The Forgotten Arsenal
by friendlyquark
Summary: Tucked away in a Temporal Grace Point lies Rassilon's abandoned projects from the Time War. Lethal toys left lying about and the Meta-Crisis Doctor and Rose are on a mission to tidy them up. A mission that proves more dangerous and more surprising than either of them had expected.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - The Nature of War

The Black Guardian frowned and snatched his fingers back from the board in surprise.

The White Guardian' brows rose as he too watched the flames leap up and consume the silver insect.

"You've made Her angry," the White Guardian murmured and the Black snarled at him.

"Me? You're the one who put the second knight out there!" He pointed out. "You know how attached She gets to the Lovers."

The White Guardian leaned back and sighed. Perhaps he had been playing with fire there, but the pawns were in play again and that was not a small thing.

"Perhaps then, you should be cautious in your own play," the White Guardian pointed out with a touch of smugness and the Black Guardian frowned suddenly, as though he was rethinking some of his moves.

As powerful as the Guardians were, there were powers greater still and the Prime Spark was one of them. She rarely paid them much heed and they preferred it that way, neither of them wanted to be swept from the board, after all. The White Guardian's smugness faded and he began to wonder if the two of them had moved a piece too hot for even them to handle.

"Your move then," he sighed, waiting to see what the Black Guardian was going to do.

From an ebon sleeve was pulled a tiny, silver, metallic Queen. She was crowned with a filigree circlet of insects and carried a rod of command in her hand. The White Guardian sucked in his breath, irritated that he hadn't seen that move coming. Black placed her on the board with a pleased expression that he found quite irritating.

"Very well," he conceded and put out his hand for his own next move.

* * *

In the medi-bay, the green patterned walls were flecked with blood. A number of the Mashas were lying on medical beds, bandaged and already healing, despite terrible wounds from the Manifold.

Susan turned back to work on Guinn, laying the last sheet of skin protectant on his burns and checking the life support monitors with a desperate urgency. She was shaking like a leaf as she worked and Tomoko stepped up beside her, propping her up when she faltered.

She turned next to the Mashas, going over each one carefully, mending badly healed wounds, cleaning off the silver goop, and re-breaking and re-setting several limbs. She could barely think straight, but her training carried her through it all, her body so programmed to respond to each crisis that she hardly had to concentrate. K-9 was on one side of her and Tomoko on the other, each supporting her in their own way, Tomoko by quite literally holding her upright, K-9 by bringing her the things she needed as she needed them.

When she was done, she dragged herself to the bed next to Guinn's and crawled up onto it.

"Tomoko, K-9, wake me if I'm needed, all right," Susan mumbled.

* * *

"Yes, Mistress," he replied.

"You are not waking her unless someone's dying," Tomoko told the robot dog, as Susan fell asleep. She stood over the Time Lady with a frown on her face, wondering what had happened to her hair. She looked like she'd been in a fire... which she probably had, she suddenly realized. She'd nearly burned up.

"I'm serious, K-9, let her rest."

"Yes, Mistress Tomoko," he replied and whined a bit as he settled on the bed next to Guinn.

"Is he okay now?" she asked softly, not wanting the others to hear her.

"He has gone into a Healing Coma, which is a positive occurrence, but does not negate the possibility that he might cease to function," the dog replied.

"When will we know?" Tomoko asked and the dog whined softly again.

"Unknown," he replied and she sighed and looked down at Guinn.

"Don't do this to them, you!" she scolded and frowned deeply. "Which reminds me, where's the other one?" She turned and left the medi-bay, realizing that all three of them must be falling apart and only two of them were resting.

"Koschei!" Tomoko grumbled as she came into the console room. "You look like a bag of drowned weasels." She scowled as she took in the bloodshot eyes, the bruised look to his face, the way he was nearly staggering as he moved around the console.

"Have to keep going, the Manifold... not gone yet," he explained, still flying the TARDIS and she hesitated.

"He's an idiot," Moira said, as she stepped up beside Tomoko. "He's not going to be able to keep this up."

"Moira's right, you can't pilot like this, you're falling over!" She hit her earpiece, switching frequencies. "Doctor! Doctor, can you hear me?"

"Quite loudly and clearly, Tomoko," he replied with an audible wince.

"I'm on my way over, Koschei's done for, Guinn may not pull through, and Susan is out cold. We're out of pilots!"

"What do you mean, he's done for? Is he injured?" the Doctor replied in a panicked tone.

"Not sure, he's passing out at the console, I think it may be exhaustion, since his vitals seem stable."

"I'm fine," Koschei muttered, wobbling as he moved around the console. "Just need to get free of this swarm..." He continued to move, his eyes glazed and his voice slurring his words.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" challenged Tomoko.

"About thirty, but who's counting," he snapped. "We can't stay here, the goo is toxic."

"I'm coming to get you, Doctor," Tomoko shot back over the radio. "Or Rose, incoming five minutes, one of you be ready!"

* * *

The Doctor looked at Rose and she shrugged.

"You need to get over there, Koschei will never listen to me, you know," she informed him and he nodded. The console was sparking where the overloaded shields were fighting to keep the Manifold off of them and he wasn't happy about leaving her alone there.

"Right," he sighed. "I'll get my things." He ran to fetch his coat and was back a few minutes later, looking grim.

"What's wrong?"

"I wish we could be absolutely certain that we got them all," the Doctor replied.

"Nothing to say we've even won yet!" Rose pointed out. "There's still plenty out there."

"The maths are on our side, the weight of the numbers is turning," he muttered. "The probabilities are collapsing nicely." She stared at him.

"Right. If you say so," she snarked and rolled her eyes, looking at a viewscreen filled with chaos and mayhem. He chuckled softly and shook his head.

"I may be counting my eggs, but even so, I don't want even one insect to escape!" he replied, staring at the screen with a fierce expression.

"Yeah, well, with all those billions of teeny tiny things, I don't know how you'd be able to tell."

"That's what's worrying me as well," he agreed.

The screen showed a rather irritable looking Tomoko standing outside, glaring at the camera, and he quickly opened the doors.

"Right, you ready?" She flipped up her faceplate for a moment.

"Of course," he replied and put a helmet on. He was already wearing a spacesuit, but now he swirled his long brown coat on over it.

"Radio check. Stay close, I'll keep your path clear." Tomoko dived back out the door, clearly expecting him to follow.

"Humph," he muttered. "You stay close on me child, you might learn a thing or two." He gave her a cheeky grin and then launched himself off of the TARDIS, his EMP gun at the ready.

There were still countless numbers of the insects everywhere. The entire sky was filled with clouds of rust and silver. He spun across the sky, his gun sweeping devastation out from him in an elegant arc. He twisted around a cluster of insects, grinning and laughing, and she was fairly certain he was insane.

She jetted after him, watching his back. A small swarm rose up and she took it out in a series of short pulses.

"On your twelve, Doctor, I have the six." She concentrated mainly on taking care of the gaps that occasionally appeared between firing arcs.

"This is fun!" he replied, doing a swan dive right through a large concentration of them, scattering them with three short bursts of the gun. "Whooooo!"

"Whoop! Doctor, better book, look at Susan's TARDIS!" The other TARDIS was wobbling severely. A number of Mashas had taken off out of it and were pulsing around its immediate area, shaking off insects by hand.

"Playtime is over!" he snapped back and he arced upwards, like a dolphin breaching, bringing himself into alignment with the other TARDIS. He snapped off a few shots, clearing a path for them and then rushed straight at the TARDIS, braking only a few metres before he would have smashed into it. He fired the gun at full at the TARDIS itself, causing the external shell to fluoresce and pulse. The insects attached to it were instantly blasted free and he tapped the muzzle of the gun to the faceplate of his suit, like he was saluting the Mashas.

"The surface is EMP proof, but highly conductive," he told them and then grabbed the top of the door and swung himself into the TARDIS, rolling to a stop and bouncing up with a bright smile.

Tomoko was on his heels. She arrived just in time to see Koschei drooping, semi-conscious, Moira supporting the bulk of his weight. She and Tomoko looked at each other. Tomoko nodded.

"Come on," Moira told Koschei, "Bed."

The Doctor moved smoothly to the controls and gave Koschei a look as he struggled to remain.

"Susan needs you now, go to her," he instructed and Koschei nodded, giving in instantly, and left with Moira.

"Big bug is gone, smaller bugs are about half cleaned up, should be mop-up from this point," Tomoko told him, flipping up her faceplate, "But it's going to be a slog for the next few hours."

"Noted," he replied as he ran the boards. "Susan and Guinn? Adie?" he asked.

"Susan's resting. Guinn…" She shook her head. "Well. We certainly have the best medical care available for him, it's possible he may pull through. But if we weren't in a hospital ship with a top notch doctor like Susan?" She shook her head. "No way."

"I don't tend to worry about the 'ifs'," he replied. "The Mashas? Everyone accounted for so far?"

"No one is missing, heavy wounded, most of them sleeping it off in medi-bay, it's stuffed to the gills. Adie was in the zero room, last I heard." He looked up at her sharply at that.

"Is she regenerating?"

"Haven't had time to check, but probably."

"Bugger, that complicates things," he replied. "The Möbius Loops collapsed, from the energy readings, I think that was Susan shunting the Arkytior's energy away from anything alive and inhabited,"

"I think it is gone now, the Arkytior, I mean."

"Obviously, or else we'd all be dead already," the Doctor pointed out absently, his hands flying over the boards.

"Where do you need me, Doctor?"

"In about twenty places at once, but I think your talents would be most effective outside, leading your sisters," he answered, looking up at her with a small smile and she nodded.

"Done. I'm on twenty-one. Just whistle me up if you feel like it," she said, flipped her faceplate back down, and headed outside without another word.

"I'll be here, working out the next thing," he muttered, his mind already far away.

* * *

In the Zero Room, five dimensions collapsed and reformed and the energy from that transformation was a golden supernova, contained within the fragile boundaries of three dimensions. Her energy scattered, flowing through her, as it accessed TNA chains, picking and choosing new expressions to the same amino acids. When it finally settled, she had changed outwardly, even though her energy, the flow by which other Time Lords recognized her, was unchanged.

The hole in her soul was still there too, nothing could cure that, but a true death, or a meeting with her bondmate, after all. She thrashed for a minute under the pain of that, as if she had been impaled, writhing until she was curled up in a ball with her hands around her chest, gasping, sobbing.

She was somewhat taller, and a bit less gangly and more curvy than she had been. Her hair had lengthened, taking on a dishwater-blonde colour. Her eyes, when she opened them, were brilliantly blue.

She was in a Zero Room, she realized. This was the first time she'd ever regenerated, but she'd heard the engineers talk about their past ones, so she knew what to do. She ran hands over her face, a tongue along her teeth, and tried to feel her own energy and how it was flowing through this new form.

She knew she ought to have felt something about regenerating, but she was just numb. The shroud of loneliness draped over her by the encounter with the Arkytior was so thick she could almost see it. She thought of Susan, Koschei, and Guinn, who had borne this for two hundred years and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to block out the rest of her life.

But there was nothing to be done about it. She knew that, had known it for some considerable time. At length, when she felt strong enough, she climbed to her feet and then found the door. The battle was still going on, as became apparent the moment she opened the door and heard the doleful ringing of the Cloister Bell. There was work to do.

The Doctor was standing by the console, flying the ship by himself and she could see the brilliant flares of energy streaking out away from him, as though by sheer willpower alone, he was twisting the outcomes to a thousand dice rolls. He looked up at her and smiled.

"You look lovely, my dear," he told her.

"I haven't had time to look," she said, and moved a little awkwardly to the console; her legs were longer and she was having trouble sorting them out.

"You ought to have a second pilot, it's still very thick out there."

He gestured her to the console and she moved to shift the oscillation pattern on the shields again.

"They keep adapting, you have to keep changing it," he warned her and she nodded.

"What is our status?"

"Only you, Rose, and I, are still on our feet. Susan is working to keep Guinn alive, he's rather badly burned. Koschei and Susan are dead on their feet, but too stubborn to collapse." He looked at her. "Runs in the family."

Adie didn't answer immediately, working on the shields.

"Guinn stepped between Susan and the Arkytior," she told the Doctor.

"That doesn't surprise me in the least. I knew he was going to do something impossibly noble and stupid," he grumbled.

"Do you think that he'll make it?" Her voice was very quiet.

"Susan is working on him," he temporized.

"We could have lost this system," Adie pointed out.

"System? Oh Adyra, the last channel for the Arkytior took out half a galaxy! The one before that nearly obliterated our race! The first one caused cataclysms so great that the Eternals went to war with us over it! Her death was the only thing that saved us from their wrath." He was watching her with a great deal of sadness. "I am ... concerned about how they will feel about two of you running about."

"Merely concerned? I find myself quite petrified by that question."

"Well, I've dealt with them before, so, I'm not petrified," he chuckled. "Merely concerned."

"Well, how do you think they will deal with it, then?"

"Poorly," he answered and set the TARDIS spinning quickly, shaking the goop off of it using centrifugal force to disperse them. Adie oscillated the shields, discouraging yet another batch of locusts.

"Could you elaborate on, 'poorly'?"

"I suspect that the 'golden lady' who visited you was an Eternal," he told her and gave her a bitter smile. "That means that they already knew about a lot of things before they had happened. It also means that either their view of the channels has changed drastically, or that one faction sees an advantage in them over another one in the Great Race." Adie said nothing, varying the oscillation, and commented only after the locusts had again been driven away.

"My education is limited," she admitted. "I don't follow half of what you just told me."

"Ah. The Eternals exist outside of time and space, they dwell in eternity. They use us, 'ephemerals', for our creativity, for our imagination and intuition, since they have none. They are constantly battling back and forth, some on the side of the White Guardian and some on the side of the Black Guardian, while still others choose to better only themselves and choose neither order nor chaos. Do you see?" he asked.

She nodded very slowly.

"And you think that they… orchestrated all of this?"

'No, I told you, they have no imaginations at all. I think that one of them, possibly more than one, decided, for whatever reason, to interest themselves in this little drama. What the reason might be, I don't know. I doubt very much that they came up with the idea on their own though. It's not in their natures." He shook his head. "No, I think the Guardians are moving and we're the pawns again."

She closed her eyes momentarily, as if the words were physically painful to her, then opened them again, choosing a different variation of the oscillation frequency.

"You've been a pawn before?"

"Oh yes, Adie, that's my ... function, I suppose," he replied. "I'm always in play."

She frowned at him.

"In play… how, precisely?"

"I'm the Champion of Time, dear, it's not just a pretty title. I'm the White Guardian's favourite toy," he snarled, sounding very unhappy about it. "I don't get to have a peaceful life."

"Am I in play?" Her voice was small.

"We all are, Adie, every single living thing in the universe is a piece on their board. The only difference is that some of us get shoved into the hottest part of the fire far more often."

"I see," she said, her fingers never ceasing in their movements. She fell silent, minding the shields, but saying nothing else. Her face looked both thoughtful and very sad.

"None of which negates free will, Adie," he told her suddenly. "We all have a choice as to how we respond, how we choose to act. That's why he uses me so much, he already knows I will keep buggering on, no matter how bad things get. I don't like it much, but I never will stop, because that would be so much worse."

"We choose how we act," she repeated. "Yes, I agree. The alternatives being worse… yes, I agree with that too." She smiled at him, but it was a smile that didn't have a hint of happiness or amusement in it. "You have the right of it, as usual."

"I'm afraid so," he told her and his eyes were deeply sympathetic. "Not much fun sometimes though, eh?"

"No," She said, "But I knew that… I believe that the mass is beginning to thin, Doctor."

"It is," he agreed. "We just need to keep whittling away at it and we'll have won." He said the words with no indication of joy or triumph, just a profound weariness.

"Or at least driven them off for the moment," she mused.

"Please don't say things like that," he grumbled. "I want them eradicated. They are far too dangerous to be allowed to live."

Adie's tone was neutral.

"Wasn't that the exact premise behind the entire Time War?" She sounded horribly sad.

"What? Destroying the Daleks? Yes and it was the right thing to do. You can sit there and moralize, but the fact is that people will die. Millions, billions of them if we don't stop them. I had a chance to stop the Daleks once, I didn't do it, and look at the result," he told her.

"I… wasn't trying to moralize, I just…" She oscillated the shields again and didn't speak at once. "Is it always this destructive? Watching so many things die? Watching so many people die? Is it like this… all the time?"

"War? Yes, it's horrific. It's why I don't like them very much," he replied. "The universe is filled with wonders, Adie, but it's also filled with terrors and you can't have one without the other, you can't have love without hate, joy without sorrow, that's life. So, you want people to live and thrive? Then you have to protect them from the monsters."

She didn't respond for a couple of oscillations.

"I believe I am capable of doing that now," she said quietly.

"You have been doing it for over a century, Adie," he pointed out. "Who protected the Mashas if not you?"

"That was why I stayed for so long, to protect them. Everything that happened wasn't their fault. They didn't deserve to die."

"No, they didn't. However, the Manifold are my problem to deal with. The Rani created them, the Time Lords advanced them and our failure released them. I have to clean up our mess."

"Oh, I quite agree. I just wish we had been able to find a better way to do it… foolish of me, I suppose."

"No, not at all. Had I more time I would have let Susan continue and she might have been able to genetically re-engineer them into something less dangerous to us all. The problem is that we ran out of time. This became our only option." He frowned. "I would have preferred a better way as well."

She nodded, and did not speak again.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Clean Up

Rose swore and sent the TARDIS into a sudden dive, narrowly missing one of the Mashas.

"Sorry!" she called over the comm. She shook the insect off of the ship, but the crunching sounds had told her that they'd taken some damage regardless.

"No problem," the girl shot back. "I've always wanted to be run over by a TARDIS."

Rose laughed at that and kept the craft in motion. Any time she paused, the insects took the opportunity to latch on, so her only option was to shimmy and shake her way through the battlefield.

"They're thinning!" another girl called and Rose squinted at the screen.

"Hey! You're right!" she cheered. "Not bad, you lot!"

"You all right?" Tomoko's voice asked her and Rose nodded, before she realized they were on voice only.

"I'm fine," she replied. "Just not used to flying this model, that's all."

"Nanites are picking up momentum, I think we're over the hump, this is really picking up speed out here!"

"I wish Susan could see this, we are recording right? She'll want to complain later about how she could have done it better, if she'd thought of something else sooner," Rose joked.

"Are you kidding? I always record everything, I have a microlens embedded in my left pupil, didn't you know?" There was no way to tell from Tomoko's tone whether or not she was joking.

"Really? That's wizzard!" Rose exclaimed.

"Wait… I just hit a clear patch… I think… I think it might be over… or pretty close… everyone, fan out, look for survivors, gun down anything you find!"

For the first time in ages, there was silence around the TARDIS, with no munching noises. The screen was clear of silver.

"Did we win?" Rose asked, panting a bit and not yet ready to let the TARDIS slow.

"Depends on whether one insect out of several doxillion got away."

"At this point, just not having them eating a planet is a win for me," Rose sighed.

"Definitely not eating the planet. They never got to the inhabited world, it was next in line, but looks like it lucked out… everyone, check in! Anyone see anything?" There was a protracted silence, followed by, "I have no bogies anywhere on screen. Neither does anyone else."

"Okay, let me run a sensor sweep, just to be sure," the Doctor said over the comm and Rose had to think a moment before the sequence for that came back to her.

"My sensors are clear," she finally reported.

"Mine too," the Doctor sighed out. "I'm calling Dar, telling him we're on our way back."

"That's a good idea, they must have been frantic when we dropped off of the screens," Rose sighed.

"Naw, Dar is used to babysitting Koschei, this is old hat to him. My sensors still reading clear," he told her with a satisfied tone.

"Double checking you both, but… I don't see anything either," Adie said.

"Okay guys," Tomoko snapped, "Do one more sweep, then pack it in if no one finds anything."

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Mashas began landing on Rose's TARDIS. They were exhausted, suits scorched and, in many cases, covered with silver goop, but they tossed them in the incinerator and smiled at Rose.

"Well flown," offered Zoi. Several of her sisters slapped Rose on the back, or took a moment to punch her on the bicep in a congratulatory sort of way.

Rose just grinned at them.

"You lot are brilliant!" she told them. "I think we all deserve a vacation."

"We'll settle for forty winks," Zoi said. "I was going to turn in, I think everyone is bushed… are you all right? You need us to be anywhere, do anything, get you things? Just say the word."

"Naw, go take a nap, I'll fly us home."

"Thanks Rose." This sentiment was echoed from every side and then the entire group trooped off, pleased at their success, but with exhaustion showing in every line of their bodies, as they all went to crash.

* * *

Aislynn woke up with the absolute, bone-deep knowledge that if she didn't get help soon, she was going to die. The urge to slip into a healing coma had been flickering around the edges of her consciousness for some time; this morning she realized how rapidly the desire was gaining strength; it was a fight just to get out of bed.

She looked in the mirror, really looked, and the reflection that looked back at her wasn't promising. Her teeth and the whites of her eyes were tinged with gray, and as a result looked dingy. In the shower, she realized that the solid silver of her fingernails was progressing, so that the very tips of her fingers were beginning to turn gray as well. Real despair didn't hit her, though, until after the shower, when she tried to comb through her hair and realized it was beginning to fall out.

If she had been by herself, she probably would have given up at that moment, returned to her bed, given in to the desire to slip into a healing coma; and simply never awakened.

However, there was Owen to be considered. What would he do without her? He was a brilliant and self-sufficient human and formidable in many ways: was he to live on the Elysium alone until he found his own cure? And, for that matter, what would happen to the Elysium? Would she remain here forever, a closet in the basement of the Torchwood building, until the building fell down from age, leaving the closet alone standing?

She knew what she would look like in the end, silver from head to toe, trailing only an occasional wisp of hair, with a Dalek eye shoving itself out of her forehead, and she shuddered at the thought; but until that happened, she was duty-bound to give Owen whatever assistance she could.

Aislynn tapped out the Agent's number and waited.

"Greeting my Lady, suns shine upon you," Dar answered with a wry smile.

"Moons rise upon you, Captain Darginian," Aislynn replied politely.

"I was just about to call you, my Lady, Dr. Susanatrevelar is on her way back. We had a little emergency here as well, but that's cleared up, so she's free to give a consultation tonight or tomorrow."

"Certainly, I need to run a last series of tests, so I can have fresh data for her. Would tonight at sixish be too soon?" She tried to dismiss the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She would set the conference call up in the airlock. If this doctor, Susan, Turned her during the call, Owen could flee back into the Elysium, and the overrides in the airlock would prevent her from causing any mischief, regardless of what commands were given. It was all that could be done.

"I'm sure that will be fine by her," the Captain replied with a nod and Aislynn hit the button with suddenly trembling hands.

She got up and got dressed, selecting flowing robes of quiet browns and blacks, with matching gloves to hide her deteriorating hands, and went to see about arranging matters for the call.

* * *

Susan awoke, dragged herself from the bed and checked Guinn, changing out his fluids and fretting as she tried to decide what would be best.

Should she try an Artron shunt, or would it be too much after coming in contact with the Arkytior's energy? She didn't know and that lack of knowledge could kill him. She squeezed her eyes shut and decided against it.

She really hoped she was right.

She finished working on him, using the tissue regenerator to speed healing to his burned skin and then crawled back into bed to collapse again.

* * *

"As soon as we land on Gallifrey, we can start disassembling the Lens controls," the Doctor told her over the comm and Rose nodded as she worked.

"That'll be a relief. I hate having that stuff lying about. I mean, what if someone horrible ever got ahold of it," she replied and he sighed out.

"Yeah, I worry about that too. We'll have to hope the Mashas will have it covered and we can help if needed."

"Where do you need me, Doctor?" Tomoko called over the comm.

"Making sure that everyone gets tea, food, and rest, in that order," he told her with a smile. "If you please. I'll be harassing Adie about that myself."

"Doctor!" cried an unfamiliar voice in the background.

"Now," her told her, glaring. "Before you fall down and I have to carry you. I'm too bloody tired to haul you about."

* * *

"I'm going, I'm going," Adie grumbled, headed for the hallway, missed, and rebounded momentarily off the corner. "Wall," she mumbled to no one in particular, and headed off in a not-quite-steady way.

"What is with your family?" Rose grumbled, looking lovely even when dishevelled and exhausted.

"Honour, Duty, Sacrifice," he recited to her, wishing they were both on the same TARDIS just then. "Damned stupid motto, if you ask me. It ought to have been "Pay Attention and Don't Die!" or "Take Care of Yourselves, Like Intelligent People"."

"I expect Adie will crash as soon as the tea touches her lips," Tomoko said, stripping off her helmet and peering into the monitor at him. Her hair was sticking up in every direction, but he thought it was cute.

"How long until we reach Gallifrey, and what do you need me to do once we are there?"

"About ten minutes," Rose informed her. "We weren't that far away, after all." The Doctor nodded, not liking to think too hard about that. They had come out of the Loops close enough that Gallifrey would have been one of the worlds eaten by the Manifold and probably within a very few months.

"You lot will want to wander about, get some food and such. No doubt Diana would be thrilled to show you all about," the Doctor told them.

"Mmm, yes, let me get cleaned up and I'll get everything organized," Tomoko agreed, as her eyes brightened in thought.

"Excellent!" he agreed and then the screen went dark.

"I wish we could still chat while in the Vortex,"he sighed, missing Rose rather acutely, and the TARDIS de-materialized with a loud wheezing.

* * *

They materialized about ten minutes later and Rose opened the doors for them.

"You lot go with Diana, I'm taking the TARDIS up to the house. I want to see my children something fierce," Rose told them with a smile.

There was laughing and chattering as Diana called out to them

"This way!" She waved and nearly everyone followed.

Only Tomoko paused. This close up, she looked tired.

"You ought to try to get the Doctor to get a bit of rest too," she told Rose. "Both of you. You must be exhausted."

"We'll rest, once we're home with our family," she assured her. "But you need to take a nap as well."

"After the tour, I think. I have to try and keep everyone from destroying the planet," Tomoko joked, and headed out after the others.

"Please do, we just got it repaired," the Doctor told her as he walked in, Adie at his heels yawning hugely.

"I've parked Susan's TARDIS at the clinic, Martha, Harry, and Flores are already in there taking care of everyone," he told Tomoko.

"How are they? Susan, Koschei, Guinn? For that matter how are you?" Her eyes looked piercingly at Adie, but Adie shook this off.

"I've just regenerated. I am fine."

"Obviously," the Doctor snarked as she yawned again.

"Perhaps you ought to consider a nap of longer than ten minutes," Tomoko suggested.

"We'll see. There's a lot of work to do."

Tomoko raised her eyebrows at Adie, and Adie raised her eyebrows back at Tomoko.

"You'll be going straight to bed, young lady," the Doctor informed Adie with a glower. "Just as soon as Tomoko gets off this damn TARDIS and lets us get you home."

"Going! Going!" Tomoko beat a hasty retreat without further argument.

"Right," the Doctor muttered and Rose chuckled as she helped him de-materialize the TARDIS.

* * *

Susan woke to see Martha leaning over her and smiled.

"Hey," she murmured and dragged herself upright.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Martha scolded. "You look all done in and what did you do to your hair?"

"I caught fire and it burned," Susan explained. "As for resting, I can't, I haven't taught you how to treat burn damage on a Time Lord yet," she replied with a shrug. "Let's rectify that."

"Right," Martha stared at he, obviously wanting to ask a lot of questions, but she just shook her head and put an arm under Susan's, supporting her wobbly steps over to where Guinn was lying.

"This is Guinn, Koschei's other self," she told Martha, whose eyebrows rose into her hairline.

"Ah," she murmured and then fell silent as Susan walked her through the process for treating burns.

"That's it?" Martha asked at the end of the lesson.

"Unless he gets an infection, which can be serious, yes, that's it. He shouldn't though, the TARDIS is sterile and we're not really susceptible to them, usually." Susan gave his bandages one last check and then Martha nodded decisively.

"Fine, to sleep with you and I'll take over."

"Very well," Susan said with a jaw breaking yawn. "Wake me if you have any questions."

"Right," Martha said with a dubious air. "When pigs fly."

* * *

They landed on Gallifrey and Diana-37 had changed into some more appropriate clothes; jeans, a T-shirt, and trainers, and beamed at Jake.

"Tour guide time," she said, and kissed him goodbye.

Jake waved and headed off towards Torchwood to tell Pete that they were back, while she guided the pack of chattering clones through the plaza, all of them staring around at themselves in mixed wonder and dismay.

"Is it safe here?" Moira asked her and Diana blinked.

"Why wouldn't it be?" she asked.

"Time Lords!" Moira snapped back and Diana had to stop and try to remember what it had been like for her, not that long ago, the fear and hatred she had felt towards those that had created her and then abandoned her.

"Masha!" Darginian called out and she turned to smile at him.

"Hey, Dar, how are things?" she asked and he bowed politely to her and the others.

"Quite well. I see that you were able to rescue your clone sisters," he replied and she nodded. Moira and several of the others were looking at him warily, but he seemed not to notice.

"We were." She turned and waved at the Mashas. "We're all Mashas, so we took names, I'm Diana now."

"Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt, Earth's Roman era mythology," he replied and nodded. "It suits you." He grinned at her and then waved at the others, before moving off. Diana saw Tomoko catch up with them and headed towards the Cafe.

"He was... nice," Moira muttered, obviously surprised.

"Yeah, all the ones that made us, tortured us, they were renegades, criminals even. Susan said what they did was totally against the law. All the Time Lords here were really mad about it." Diana replied and Moira stared at her for moment before falling silent and frowning as she tried to absorb this new concept.

"Masha!" yelled Lucy as they approached the cafe. "You're back!" She waved happily and then her hand slowed and her jaw dropped as seventy-five other Mashas came into view.

"Lucy!" Diana waved back. "You guys up for a lunch rush? I'm buying!... I hope," she muttered to herself.

"Yeah... Let me unpack more tables!" she said and then grinned suddenly. "I didn't know you came from such a big family!" she laughed and began hitting buttons on the wall, causing tables to spring up like mushrooms from the ground.

"I didn't either! Everyone, this is Lucy," she introduced as the group tramped into the restaurant. The chorus of greetings nearly overwhelmed the usual sounds of Gallifrey.

"Masha!" Wilf's voice called out and he was hurrying towards her, arms up, and looking delighted.

"Wilf!" Diana-37 ran to him and threw her arms around him. "Oh, I am so glad to see you! I missed you!"

"I missed you too! Place was gloomy without you!" he assured her and hugged her back. "Hullo!" He looked around at the assembled clones with an expression of wonder. "Well, will you look at that!" he chortled.

"Everybody, this is Wilf," Diana-37 said, in a tone she might have used to introduce the President. Everyone got up and crowded, wanting to shake his hand and greet him.

"But what am I to call you all? You must all have names, beyond 'everybody'," he queried.

He got scores of names and he listened carefully to each one, shaking hands, and smiling and complimenting them on clothes, or their names, or some little thing, making each one feel as though he'd paid them just that bit more attention than anyone else ever had. He looked around at them, beaming and genial and sat down with Diana on one side, Tomoko on the other, and began fielding questions from the girls, laughing joyfully.

Diana had told them stories about Wilf and so he was asked first about bits of his own life: about botany class and four-winged Gallifreyan bees; about his house with Donna. Eventually the talk moved back to Gallifrey, and what it was like here; but everyone was also keenly interested in Karn, which they were mulling over as a possible new home.

"Oh! I've been there," he told them. "The Doctor took me by, it's lovely. The Cave is magnificent, oh, just beautiful. The corals they hum, like music playing in your head, most delightful thing. Standing there in the darkness, with the corals glowing around you, it's like being in a field of stars, just amazing. You lot would love it there!" he assured them.

The food came and most talk ceased; the girls had been on board the TARDIS and so had had at least some food, but they were all very glad to see their meals.

Fresh food was so much better than anything the food units could produce that they were all rather surprised, most of them never having eaten something that didn't come from a tin or that they hadn't killed themselves and roasted. The meal was a huge hit, and everyone chattered and laughed, talking to Wilf and each other, looking for all the world like teenagers taking in the afternoon sights.

It was Tomoko that prodded Diana into moving on from the restaurant, pointing out that they would need to return to the TARDIS in the evening and had a lot of ground to cover. Diana reluctantly began gathering everyone up.

"Well, where do you all want to go see first?" Wilf asked and in the ensuing cacophony he managed to marshal them into groups. One group, composed mostly of the artistically inclined Mashas was to go with Diana to the art and bead stores, while Wilf and Tomoko would take the more martially oriented Mashas off to the Arcade. Lucy was wrangled into taking a group to the library, which she did willingly, closing up shop with a laugh.

"I'm out of food now, anyway, might as well," she explained with a shrug. "Come on, this way!" she called and herded the bookworms off.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - Home Again

The Doctor walked into the House, with Adie on his heels and Rose beside him.

"It's in a different universe and it's not the original House, just one we rebuilt from the plans, but, welcome home, Adie," he told her and a pair of tiny blond children barrelled into him.

"Mummy! Daddy!" they chorused, resolving into a little girl and toddler boy who were picked up and cuddled.

"Adie, these are your cousins, Jenny and Jamie," he introduced and Jenny grinned at her.

"I've lost a tooth!" Jenny announced and displayed her gap with great pride.

"So you have," Adie agreed simply. "I am Adie. You must be Jenny. Your reputation precedes you."

"It's not true! I can too behave!" she insisted.

"I am sure you can," Adie tried to smile. It probably didn't come off very well. Then something occurred to her, and she looked shyly at the Doctor. "I suppose I will find out, at least… if I am staying here? As… as family?" Her voice was very shy.

"I told you that you could have your old room, Adie, and I meant it. This is your home, we are your family," he told her and drew her into his arms for a hug.

She held onto him tightly. Even through the hole in her chest, it meant the moons to her.

"Thank you," she murmured to him.

"There is no reason to thank me, I should never have let them take you in the first place, Adyra, this was always where you belonged," he replied softly.

"Don't torture yourself. What's done is done. What is important is that I am back and I'm happy to be here. I was sure I would never be happy again, but I am."

"That's all that matters then," he agreed.

"Well, that and getting some dinner and a nap for Adie!" Rose suggested, cuddling the little boy to her. "Who's hungry?"

The children all chorused and ran inside and Adie turned and looked out at the world she'd never thought she'd see again.

She was home.

* * *

Diana stood against her hut with her head on the front door. She had given the Doctor the keys before leaving the planet, and she had forgotten to get them back. She was locked out! Of her own hut!

Luckily, she had forgotten to lock one of the windows. She was inside easily enough, and then went to see about running off a new key to her front door.

She hadn't expected for the lights to turn suddenly on, and her living room to be full of people.

"Surprise!"

She was startled; and then she realized that there was a crowd of people in the living room: Cassie, Mike, Donna, Stuart, Wilf, Terry, Samantha, Ramani, and Trevor: every one of her crew from the Torchwood building on Gallifrey, as well as Wilf and Donna.

Diana stared at them all in complete shock.

"What… how did you…" Everyone laughed, and there were hugs all around. "What happened? How did you even know I was back? I didn't even know I was back!"

"The Doctor called ahead of course! He told us he'd keep you busy for a while, so we could set up!" Cassie laughed.

"Is that what that tour was about? I'm so going to get him!" But she was laughing and gave Cassie a hug. "We loved the make-up!" she told her.

"I'm so glad! I figured seventy-some-odd girls in the world's longest sleepover, what else could they need?" she laughed.

"Porn, but Mike took care of that," Diana laughed, winking at Mike.

"I knew he would, he's a dirty dog," she laughed and nudged Mike who grinned back.

"Hey, I know what to look for in a man, Cassie," he teased.

"I still have that centrefold, by the way," Diana grinned at him.

"He was yummy, wasn't he?" Mike agreed. "I'll have to get you the ones that Jake did when he was an underwear model. They're hard to find, though."

"Oh, I big-time need those; and where is Jake? He was supposed to meet me here!"

"Probably got shanghai'd by Pete, you lot have been gone for two days! He was getting worried," Mike laughed.

Di chewed her lip.

"We've been gone a little more than two years, subjectively, and he's lost a lot of weight," she worried.

"Then you won't see him back until Pete and Jackie are done fussing over him," Cassie sighed. "They practically adopted him after the Cyber Wars, you know."

"No, Pete and Jackie can come to the party and fuss over him here," scowled Di, and dialled her phone. "Pete!"

"Hey, Ma- I mean, Diana, how are you?"

"Having a party, and it's not any fun without Jake. And where are you? And you could bring Jackie if you wanted, come on, it'll be fun!"

"Diana, he's fast asleep. He showed up for his debriefing and pretty much passed out. I've tucked him into a spare bed and am letting him sleep," Pete sighed. "He was thin, had scars all over and looked like hell, what exactly happened? No. You're having a party, that can wait. If he wakes up, I'll send him over, okay?" Pete's voice was full of concern.

"No, don't, the sleep will be good for him, I'll be over in the morning, we always gave him first pick of whatever we had, but he needs fattening up… just take care of him, okay?"

"Always have, kid, you get some sleep tonight too, okay, whatever you lot got up to, it was wearing," he sighed.

"Okay, will do," Di said, but when she hung up the phone she turned to the crowd. "Jake is sleeping this one off," she told them, "But after two years, I am home! It is party time, people!"

"Great!" Trevor called. "More beer for me!"

"I'll run you up some," Di said, "And chips and dip… someone fire up the console, let's party!"

* * *

Rose walked into the medi-bay on Susan's TARDIS and leaned over Guinn. He looked like something out of a hammer horror picture, but her empathic senses could pick up a slew of conflicting emotions in him and she sighed.

"Look you, you may think you're the copy, the second best, but let me tell you something, mister, you're not. I can see the hearts of you and you are brilliant. My Doctor was the copy and he was sure that he was rubbish, but you know what? He was the one that stayed with me, that loved me, that told me he loved me, and still tells me every day. I'm not sure about all this, I was born human and I don't always understand all the Time Lord stuff, but I understand love. You love her and that will never be rubbish, you hear me?" She dropped a kiss on his forehead and then whispered in his ear. "So, you better live, or I'll kick your bleedin' arse!"

With that she patted a patch of unburned skin and sighed out.

* * *

Adie stepped into a bedroom that she only vaguely recalled from the mythological depths of her nearly forgotten childhood.

She turned slowly, wondering if the choice of purple had been her own, or her mother's. The bed was a bit frilly for her adult tastes, but the pile of stuffed toys and dolls on it evoked some vague recollections.

It was a large room, with windows all along one wall and bookshelves along the facing one, there was a huge bathroom and dressing room with cupboards filled with clothes that were far too small for her. She stepped in front of the mirror and she was scanned and measured. She pulled out the catalogue and ran through her choices, selecting clothing that she thought would be simple and functional.

There was a time, she realized that she would have been thrilled at the thought of being able to have closets filled with clothes and a beautiful room all to herself, but nothing filled the empty hollowness inside of her.

She sat down in the middle of the wardrobe room, feeling like there was no real point to anything at all.

"Is this," she asked rather dully of the Doctor, "What it used to look like?"

"Exactly as it was stored in the house records," he assured her.

"You kept it all this time?"

"The record of it, of course, the stuffed animals were in Susan's TARDIS, she collected them when she was at the house. Mum thought she could give them to children in hospital and Susan had them in her therapy room for some time."

Adie nodded and picked up a random bear.

"Yes, that would be a good use for these. They ought to go to Susan's TARDIS. They could make someone happy."

"They could. I just wanted to make certain that you have first dibs," he told her and poked a stuffed Shobogon on its nose. "They're awfully cute."

"They are," she mused. "I suppose I'll… keep a couple of the dolls." She touched one of them and a smile lit her face. "This was Gene. I would never leave Gene… funny, I don't remember ever being here, or playing with her, but looking at her, I know exactly who she is… yes, I will keep some of these." She looked around "Otherwise… It might be useful to have something to try to remember, but the rest should go to Susan." She frowned at the curtains. "Perhaps I ought to select a different theme as well. Purple seems… vivid."

"The room controls are on the desk, reconfigure to your heart's content." He turned in a circle and peered at one of the big gold tassels hanging from the mulberry curtains,

She poked at the control without real interest, flicking through four screens before selecting "Slate Blue and Gray." She loaded it up, straight from the template, and turned off the screen. She nodded at the new, very muted colours. "Sufficient."

"Ah... very... um... nice," he replied.

"I don't know that it matters that much, I doubt I will spend much time here, except to sleep." She remembered something, pulled the control back, and sorted out a series of stuffed animals to box, keeping out a couple of the dolls, just as promised.

"Yes, I suppose," he agreed, looking unhappily at the dull gray walls and darker gray carpeting. "I think this setting was one that Mum used for people she didn't like much,"

"I wonder if she would have liked me," Adie mused quietly, pressing the button and sending the selected stuffed animals to be neatly boxed.

"She loved you, Adie," he sighed. "She had a huge shouting match with your father over you. Said some very unpleasant things to him."

"I don't remember," Adie mused. "Any of that… any of these," her hand rested on the box, "Any of this. Thank you for keeping it, though, that was very thoughtful. I am grateful. Well, I believe we are done in here. What shall we do next?"

"Um, You are going to sleep now, Adie," he informed her.

"I... yes, of course," she sighed. "And… thank you for this. I'm sorry, I ought to be more excited. You must be disappointed."

"No, just wish that you could have brought your bondmate here with you, it would have made things better, I know." He looked down at his red trainers. "I feel a bit like I've failed you rather badly again."

"Do you think we… could have lived here? Together?" she asked as she walked over to the bed.

"Why wouldn't you? Koschei and Susan do. This is a Line House, the Line tends to live here, that's why it's called that," he replied.

She smiled, and this time it was a genuine smile, a rather wistful one.

"I would have liked that," she said simply and pulled back the covers, yawning hugely.

* * *

Susan sat on the edge of the bed, stroking Guinn's hair. Koschei stood behind her, his hand on her shoulder and they were both worried and unhappy.

"He's still in coma," Koschei sighed and Susan nodded. "I don't like that."

"Neither do I," she replied. "He's healing, but far more slowly than I like. I don't know why he won't wake up."

Koschei stroked her shoulder gently, trying to soothe her, but knew it wasn't helping much. Until Guinn woke up, if he woke up, neither of them would be able to rest properly.

* * *

"I'm sure he's a very nice young man," the Doctor told Adie. "We'll be happy to welcome him, once we figure out where Rassilon tucked him away. Which reminds me, we really need to go to that Command Centre soon. As soon as Guinn is up and about, I think."

"Yes, he has the keys," agreed Adie. "I don't think the location will be there," she said simply.

"Shall we make a bet?" he challenged her. "I know Rassilon and the one thing he could not resist was his insatiable need to show how clever he was!"

"Really? I don't think I have ever met anyone with an insatiable need to show how clever they were," Adie's lips twitched into what could potentially have been a smile.

"Of course, you have, for goodness sakes, you lived with the Master for centuries!" he informed her haughtily, pretending he didn't know what she meant.

"As you say. Which still doesn't explain why you believe the coordinates would be there."

"Because he wouldn't have had anywhere else to brag about it, but there!" the Doctor pointed out. "Where else could he put some arrogant little notation to show how big his brain is?"

"Yes, but he could have bragged with a set of fake coordinates. Doesn't keeping the real coordinates risk he would be found? Why would he ever want that?

"Who else was going to be on that station to see them, except for people who already were part of the project?" he reminded her.

"Wait… what?"

"The Command Centre only had people on it that were already on the Project, these were people that he deemed too terrorized to thwart him. He'd have locked it under layers of security of course, but it would be there, because he would simply assume that no one was smart enough to figure it all out and if they were that clever, well, they'd be on his side anyway."

"So, I am still not following how he could show off being clever if… oh, did he… do you think he saved them for you?"

"For me, or for the Master, or someone else that he thought was going to come along as part of posterity," he agreed. "Me though, yes, he didn't ever like to pass up an occasion to insult me and make me feel stupid. Unless, he needed me for something, then he could be quite... charming."

"In all the time I spent with him, he was never particularly unpleasant to me," Adie mused.

"Well, of course not, he was going to marry you, after all," the Doctor snorted. "You were his passport to ultimate power."

"Or so he thought," she mused.

"Or so he thought," he agreed. "He was brilliant, but his arrogance blinded him to things he didn't want to look at."

"Yes," Adie mused. "Doctor, is there anything that we can do for the bondmate until we find him? I don't… want him feeling like this, and not even knowing why. I want to make it better for him somehow."

"I wish there was something we could do. Sadly, unless you can reach him telepathically, there really isn't anything. Can you reach him?" he asked with a quizzical look at her.

"I… suppose I could try it," she mused. /Hello?/ She reached out to the empty space inside of her chest, the place where something warm and beautiful ought to be and she spread her awareness through that place. She felt the shape of it, the weight and power of it and let her mind dwell in that should-be-warmth. She thought about her bondmate, feeling for some touch of him, some glimmer of who he was, and waited for a while, listening to the silence in her own head. The weight of the silence made the shroud almost unbearable, and it was several minutes before she could trust herself to open her eyes again. The sunlight seemed particularly blinding.

"Nothing," she told the Doctor in a low voice. She kept it low because she was afraid it would shake.

Then she heard it, in that hollow space; a sort of echo, a feeling of hopeless distance. It was as though she had shouted into a vast cavern and the reply was so faint and so frail that she wasn't even quite sure that it was real and not her imagination. Still, there was something, something that wasn't at all enough to fill her up, but better than the nothing that had been there before.

"No... Wait... There is... something," she answered, rubbing her breastbone with her hand, feeling like she was aching inside. "I wonder if it is him, or if I am just imagining things?"

"I don't know, you're the only one who can tell that," he replied.

"However, I do think it's him, for what that's worth."

"Perhaps I could send him energy," she mused.

"It's possible, when Koschei was dying, Susan was able to send him her own regeneration energy to save his life, even though they were in separate universes," the Doctor told her.

Adie smiled at him. A genuine smile, the first one since she had regenerated.

"I could do something for him," she beamed. "I like that idea." It was as if the sun had come up in her eyes. He nodded and moved to open the door.

"Now, I'm days behind on several important projects and I don't think Koschei will be any use at all until Guinn is better, so I'd better go do some work. Sleep well," he told her.

"Yes," she agreed. She was still smiling.

He closed the door and let her get some rest, already plotting ways to save the day.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Complicated Explanations

Dar looked up as Koschei came in and smiled.

"You guys were gone for six hours! Where the hell were you!" he demanded, glad to see his friend, though not glad to see that Koschei was worn to the bone and looking like he'd been dragged through a battlefield. His arms were pinkish and he was walking rather slowly.

"Actually, we were gone for weeks," Koschei corrected.

"Time differential, right," he agreed. "So, did you manage to deal with your other self?"

"It's complicated."

"When isn't it with you lot?" Dar grumbled.

"He's in medi-bay right now," Koschei explained.

"Why? You tried to kill him?" Dar chuckled, but Koschei obviously didn't find it funny.

"No, actually, he's bonded to us... both," Koschei admitted and Dar blinked.

"Okay... So, you're all married to each other now?" Dar paused to absorb that. "That's... an interesting development."

"You're telling me," Koschei groaned and scrubbed his face with his hands. "I knew it was going to happen, the minute she felt him wake up, but it wasn't at all like I thought it would be."

"You think about things like that a lot?"

"No, I mean... I thought I would hate him."

"You mean, that you thought that you hated yourself," Dar corrected and Koschei gave him a wry smile.

"Yes," he agreed.

"And now you've found out that the narcissism was really just all you," Dar teased and Koschei chuckled and shook his head.

"Apparently so, because I really like Guinn," he admitted.

"Guinn?"

"That's what we're calling him."

"Since 'Koschei' was taken and 'Master' sounds a bit black leather and whips?" Dar replied and Koschei flopped into a chair with a sigh.

"Because 'Master' makes Andred and Romana twitch and reach for weapons," Koschei corrected.

"Ah, yes, they're going to be thrilled about having two of you running about," Dar chortled, very much looking forward to the coming fun and games.

"You're an evil man, Dar," Koschei told him with a small smile.

"So, if you didn't try to brain him, why is he in Medi-bay?" Dar asked and Koschei sank further into the chair.

"Because he stepped in between us and the Arkytior, nearly dying in the process, and saving both our lives," Koschei murmured and Dar blinked.

"Right. Start at the beginning and go to the end," he commanded and Koschei launched into the story, while Dar leaned back in his chair, listening intently.

When it was done, Dar frowned.

"So, there was a development while you were gone," he told Koschei, who sighed.

"When isn't there?"

"This one needs Susan though. She's already in quarantine but I found a Time Lord on Earth and she's Infected," he sighed out and Koschei's jaw dropped.

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah, that's why I need Susan," he repeated.

"Yes, you do," Koschei sighed. "She's on her way to the lab right now. Let's meet her there."

* * *

Susan walked into the lab and looked around at everything. It felt like she'd been gone for years, rather than weeks. Arthur was checking the infants over and she went over and smiled at him.

He'd healed completely now, the cane was gone and no scars remained from his injuries, but Susan still felt them, nonetheless. He'd chosen to stay for far longer than the year he'd signed up for and occasionally Susan wondered if that was from a fear of the terrorists coming after him, as much as it was a desire to help. She'd never asked him though and knew that she never would.

"How are they?" she queried as she looked over his shoulder at the analysis.

"Not too bad. A bit more adrenaline than we were planning on, a few more stress hormones than I really am happy about, but all in all, K-9 did a wonderful job caring for them," Arthur informed her.

"Yes, we were far luckier than I had any right to expect," she replied, her feelings of guilt nearly overwhelming.

"Stop that," Arthur chuckled and shook her shoulder gently. "You couldn't have ever imagined anything like this happening, could you?"

"No," she snorted. "That went beyond even my worst case scenarios."

"So, is there any way you could have known that keeping them in your TARDIS would end with you lot crashing into an ice planet?" he asked, with a raised eyebrow,

"Well, no, not really," she admitted.

"So, will you please stop blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong in the universe?" he requested and Susan chuckled.

"Yes, sir!" she agreed and he hugged her.

"What is it with your family?" he asked. "The Doctor and you seem to think that everything everywhere is your fault!"

"Well, to be fair, in Grandfather's case, that really could be true," she admitted with a dimpled smile. Arthur burst out laughing, but Susan's chuckle was more pro forma, since there were days when she really did wonder.

"Susan?" Koschei and Dar came in, both looking rather concerned and Susan's hearts started pounding as she reached for Guinn's mind. He was still alive. She breathed out.

"Yes?"

"We have a problem, back on Earth," Dar told her and she braced herself.

* * *

"Ready?" Aislynn smiled at Owen. The truth was that she was terribly nervous; but it had to be done, and that was that.

"Yeah," he agreed and stepped back out of view, his arms crossed protectively and his stance wary. She sighed, took a sip of tea for courage, and dialled in.

"Hello...?" a screen opened and a ginger woman with large brown eyes was gazing at her in confusion. "I'm sorry, Dar didn't tell me who I was going to be talking to, so I don't know your name. I'm Dr. Susanatrevellar of the Prydonians, pleased to meet you."

"I am the Lady Aislynnevelynovia, of the Dromeians. It is an honour and privilege to meet you."

"I wish we could have met under more auspicious circumstance," Dr. Susan sighed out. "But, if you wish, we could start with explaining your situation." Aislynn noted her careful wording of her request with a touch of relief.

"I am calling on behalf of one Dr. Owen Harper. He's contracted a… variant of an infection with which I believe you will be familiar. I am uploading some basic scans now." She sent over the information, then sat back in her chair, took a sip of her tea, and gave Dr. Campbell some time to look them over. Susan began to frown fiercely as she read the files.

"Bloody Daleks," she growled. "I have several variants of the cures, but my husband is the expert on them. I am appending this file and forwarding it to him, if that's okay with you?"

Aislynn nodded.

"To the best of my knowledge, this variant is unique. However, Dr. Harper has been infected for less than a week. It can't have a good hold of him yet."

"Do you have a working Trans Mat receiver? I can transmit the serum for him and some things that should slow, or even reverse much of your damage as well. I am sorry that I cannot come myself to administer it, but I'm the only doctor left and... as much as I hate it... I can't put my patient's well-being above my own just now." She looked embarrassed and apologetic.

"Which is precisely what I told Dar and why I only agreed to a teleconference. You must stay safe. As for Dr. Harper, surely we must be able to do something for him."

"It's fine, a series of six daily treatments, with the serum I send, should clean them out completely and he'll be cured," Susan assured her.

"That's the best news I have heard in a long time," she smiled at her. "I am beyond grateful. My Trans Mat receiver is non-functional at the moment, but I believe I should be able to get it into proper working order shortly."

"Good. Now, at the end of those six days, he'll also be completely immune to them, as well as incapable of acting as a carrier, so he can take care of you without risk," she added, frowning at her screen. "It's you we need to think about right now." Aislynn scowled.

"What, precisely, has Dar been telling you?"

"Lady Aislynn, I spent one hundred seventy years on the front lines of the Time War. I can see how advanced your Infection is by the signs in your face, your skin tone, and the way your eyes shift colours. I am very good at what I do," she scolded gently.

Aislynn closed her eyes.

"I am so sorry. I never would have called you if Dar and Dr. Harper had not become involved. I would never have put you at any sort of risk."

"Yet, by not contacting me first thing, you put everyone on Earth at risk, Aislynn," her tone was very gentle, but firm. "I need your scans too, I know you must have them."

"I…" Aislynn hesitated.

"Please," Susan prompted. Aislynn shook her head, but then transmitted them as requested. She felt rather as if she had been asked to dig her own grave. Susan looked over the scan and frowned again.

"I see… I could have done for you exactly what I can do for him, if I had caught it even at stage six. As it is, you've nearly waited too long and it's going to be much harder and more painful for you."

"It was well past stage six... well, long before I ever crashed into this timeline. Let alone the Earth." Aislynn shook her head sadly.

"As soon as your Trans Mat is up, I'll start sending you things that way, until then, I will send the boxes through to Torchwood. Right, I'll sign off now, I have to get a care package together for you two." She paused, frowning. "Aislynn, I request that you adhere strictly to the regimen. Dar acts like an arse, but he'd be really upset if Option 36 had to be implemented... and so would I." With that she cut the connection, leaving a small black screen in the corner.

"Not as bad as I was expecting," Aislynn finished .

"She's a doctor, just normal, like any of the doctors I've worked with in hospital. She's bossy, concerned, and has a bit of a god-complex, just like every doctor." Owen laughed suddenly, looking relieved and chagrined. "She's just a person, like you." He shook his head. "I'm okay now."

Aislynn closed her eyes.

"Bossy is a problem," she mused. "Still, I am glad to hear it. Let me see about getting the Trans Mat receiver working, and we can get you home to your wife at last."

"Sounds really good to me! Six days? I can do that!" Owen enthused and she laughed.

"Well, it may take a day or so to repair the receiver, I am afraid, but I'll try to hurry."

* * *

It was the party to end all parties. It eventually managed to draw every single Masha in the entire group. The walls were soundproof, so they ran up a stereo system and cranked it; watched endless movies; and alternated between wrecking and rebuilding various pieces of the Quonset hut. Furniture that collapsed under too much violent horseplay was dumped in the recycler and replaced, and soon all of the furniture had a rather short, stocky look as the poor duplication unit suggested tougher and tougher replacements. They partied until Mike and Cassie and everyone else was worn out and went home: they partied when the sun came up; and they partied when it went back down.

They were out of the Loops, and none of them had ever had a chance to laugh or dance or eat or play so hard as they did then.

Around the middle of the evening of the second day, the doorbell rang. They might not have heard it except that they had all settled in to watch a movie, and were all holding their breath to see if the handsome hero would be able to get to the airplane before the angry native tribe caught him.

Diana went to the door just as a burst of laughter came from everyone at the sight of the poor hero running over the hill, trailing scores of natives. She opened it to find Jake on the other side, his Torchwood black fatigues rumpled and that pixie smile on his face.

"Jake-77!" Diana cried, picked him up, and whirled him around. Heads turned at the name and in a moment he was being dragged inside with cheers.

"I hear there is some sort of small get together going on," he joked as he took in the scope of the shindig.

"It's a party!" Beamed Diana. "We have everything, food, games, movies..." There were collective shrieks behind her as a number of Mashas cheered for the airplane as it escaped, barely clearing the angry natives.

The hut was wrecked but no one seemed to care. There was a table spread out with goodies, not all of which appeared to be entirely legal, games scattered about, and stacks of movies. The entire group didn't seem at all daunted at the idea of working their way through the entire stack.

"And you should eat," Moira-3 added. "You've gotten too thin."

"And we can dance," offered Diana, "Or… whatever."

"I just sort of stopped by to give you your stuff," he told her, handing her Torchwood ID and equipment to her. "I'll eat, but then I have to get back to work. There is a huge load of paperwork for me to fill out on all of this." He grinned. "You lot all need files set up."

Diana looked at him with eyes that were suddenly round and guilty.

"Oh, I was supposed to go back, wasn't I? Oops!"

"Hey, you just found your seventy-four sisters and busted them out, Pete is fine with you taking a few days off," he assured her with a smile.

"I didn't come get you because he said you were asleep," Diana said, looking more guilty than ever.

"I was asleep, after work I'll probably crash again," he chuckled. "You lot wore me out." He grinned at the Mashas, obviously not unhappy about that at all.

Diana narrowed her eyes at him, then put her fingers in her mouth and gave a piercing whistle. Everyone turned to look at her.

"Okay, guys, come on, party's over, we'll pick this up later. We need to set up Torchwood files and I want some alone time with Jake."

"Aw!"

"Awww, don't ruin their fun on my account!" Jake told her, looking sorry. "You can come cuddle with me at my place and let them have some fun."

There was a huge cheer at this, and Diana laughed.

"All right, all right, you guys just fix whatever you break, okay?" There were general murmurs of assent and then horrified shrieks as the hero's plane looked as if it would crash.

"Snakes," Jake sighed. "Why does it always have to be snakes." He grinned and dropped a kiss on Diana's lips. "Back to the salt mines for me. See you at my place around six?"

"Hell no, I'm going with you!" Diana waved goodbye to her guests and closed the door, then smiled at him.

"I like the sound of that," he told her, taking his hand in hers and then kissing her thoroughly. "Welcome home, Diana."

She beamed.

"Welcome home, Jake-77, and did it ever occur to you that you might deserve a day off?"

"Oh, not to worry, I have vacation time coming rather soon, I figured we could take some time off for our Honeymoon." He chuckled and walked with her along the curving walkway, smiling happily.

"Sure, okay." Diana had absolutely no idea what a 'honeymoon' was, but it was a thing with Jake, and that was sufficient.

Plus, she liked honey, so that was an added bonus. She could think of all sorts of fun activities involving Jake and honey.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 - Home Fires

Rose woke when Jenny's elbow impacted with her nose. She turned her head and saw her little girl lying sprawled out between herself and Jamie, who was snuggled in the middle against the Doctor.

The Doctor opened his eyes and smiled at her from over the heads of the sleeping children and she felt a surge of contentment. With a sigh, she nestled closer to Jenny and went back to sleep.

* * *

The Doctor leaned back in his chair and listened to the discussion with only half an ear. For all it's importance, he was far more concerned with Adie.

Until he could get back to the Command Centre and check out the computers there, he couldn't begin to start looking for her bondmate.

Guinn was the only one who had the passcodes and information that they needed to get in there, though he suspected that Tomoko could hack into it, if they needed her to. So, until Guinn woke up, they were at an impasse.

She was sitting by the window, staring out at the sky and he doubted if she knew that her face bore a look of naked loneliness. The hole was no larger, he noted, but neither was it smaller.

Susan was talking earnestly to Harriet Jones, who was listening with a perplexed air.

"But cloning is nowhere near that stage yet," she assured Susan.

"Madame President," Susan sighed. "The time to make laws is before the situation gets out of hand." She was gesturing with her hands, face intent, but the Doctor was still focused on Adie.

She was so still as she sat there, her hands folded neatly in her lap and he decided that that was the problem. He needed to keep her busy. She shouldn't be allowed too much time to dwell on her pain.

"How about Adie helps you with the research aspects, Susan, she's got a lot of first hand experience dealing with cloning gone wrong," he suggested.

Adie jumped a little. She must have been miles away in her thoughts and then blushed madly.

"I'd be glad to provide assistance," she volunteered, summoning a shy smile.

"That would be helpful, there are all sorts of legal precedents as well. Do you think you could spend some time in the archives, tracking down enough of the case law to help us start formulating laws for the future?" Susan asked and her face was polite and friendly. The Doctor had to force himself not to frown, because it was obvious that Susan was also concerned. She never asked for help unless she was already overwhelmed, so she must have noted his ploy.

"Of course," Adie replied politely, and left it at that.

"Good, you should start at the Academy Library, Taydin can show you where to start looking," Susan said with a decisive nod.

"As you wish," Adie agreed.

* * *

Guinn was drifting in a timeless place. Misty, white clouds passed by and he was sitting barefoot, his toes in the sparkling white sands of this place. It was quiet and peaceful and nothing hurt. He'd been in pain for so long, hunched over his wounds, trying to staunch the bleeding in his hearts, until he'd forgotten how good it felt to just sit, sun beaming down, waves lapping, at peace with everything.

She was wading in the surf, hunting for seashells: and he was happy. He had forgotten how happiness tasted. The painful wasted thinness was gone from her, the feral quality, the look of a creature poised to flee, it was all gone. She was smiling, eyes like sea foam, when the sun was glinting on it.

She looked up and smiled at him and came up the sand to settle beside him.

"This has been wonderful," she murmured.

"You found a sand dollar," he said, and took it in his hand.

"Koschei, I love you, I always have," she murmured and kissed him softly, her lips chill on his, from the surf, he supposed. "You know that, right?"

He held her close, her hair against his chest, and he stroked it gently.

"I do," he replied and she settled her head against his shoulder, her hair tickling his ear. "I love you so very much," he sighed out.

"I want you to always remember, no matter what happens, remember that I love you and want you to be happy."

"I'll try," he answered her. "It's all right, you know," he assured her. "Right now, in this moment, I'm fine," he said. "Because you are well and happy."

"You also know that I forgive everything, because there is nothing to forgive, love. Even though things went wrong for a while, it's better now. I just want you to be happy, that's all I care about." she sighed out, looking up at him, her skin pearlescent in the light. He kissed her forehead.

"I am at peace now, my hearts, because you are at peace, and everything is all right."

"Love, I died in that timeline, but that timeline faded and vanished. That possibility disappeared and I became a bad dream, a future that was avoided," she sighed. "I became a tiny little blonde with big blue eyes and then I became a feisty ginger with brown eyes. I am still there, alive. I'm in Susan, a part of her timeline. When you touch her, you touch me."

"I know," he said. "He took care of you: and I will forever be grateful for that." This, after all, was the beginning of Forever; and it was not as frightening as it had seemed in the world of dreams.

"It's time to go back, now, to take care of me and to let me take care of you," she told him, gently tucking a stray lock of his hair behind his ear. "It's time to live."

"But he's already doing that," he stroked her face, leaning in to kiss her softly.

"It's not enough, love. I've been the conduit for more than twice as long as any other before me. I've touched and been touched by something more than the others ever have. The other you is strong and he loves me, but you saw, he cannot do this alone. We need you," she explained and it seemed to him that she was growing translucent.

A flicker of unease penetrated into his mind.

"To jump in the ocean, and come back here from time to time?" He mused. "To visit occasionally, until I come to stay?" He smiled at her as he got to his feet. "That doesn't sound so bad."

"Do you know what the Ocean is, my hearts?" she asked.

"Fire," he said simply. "Fire that burns."

"No, my darling man, it's love, all the love that each of us has felt for the other, the love she feels for us and we for her. Love can burn, of course. It can consume, it's heat can kill, but it's also warmth, light, joy, and sustenance. All that love is yours, Koschei, forever," she whispered and then seemed to flicker like a flame in his vision.

"I want to stay here forever," he said, and kissed her on the forehead for the last time. "But, you need me, and so I am going to go and find you." He took a last look at her, then turned and walked away into the darkness, looking for Susan.

Behind him she faded at last, becoming nothing more than a memory.

* * *

Susan leaned down and dropped a kiss on Guinn's head, then straightened, and stood beside his bed.

/You've slept for a long while, love, come back to me,/ she sighed out. / I miss you./

There was no response, until she put her head on his chest, listening to his steady heartsbeat, and then it was like colour poured into him. His eyes opened, rather blearily. They looked perfectly normal, if somewhat sleep-muddled.

/Mmm… Susan?/ One hand reached automatically, if not very steadily, for her hair.

"It's me, love," she murmured.

He blinked, a bit dazzled from the lights and Susan leaned down and kissed him.

"So it is," he mumbled at her, smiling at the kiss. He spent a minute just holding her tightly, stroking her back, and basking in the warmth of her.

"What are you doing still lying in my medi-bay, rather than comfortably in our bed?" she asked with a small smile. "Come on and get moving, you. I baked croissants, even."

"Mmm… I'm stiff…" he sat up and frowned before sliding too quickly off of the table and discovering his knees were wobbly. He looked at her and his fingers brushed at her suddenly short hair with a frown.

"You were burning up," he said softly.

"It was always a possibility. Any time we deal with Her, there is a chance I'll burn out," she sighed and kissed him tenderly. He crushed her to him, arms locked around her as though she might vanish if he didn't hold her tightly enough.

"No," he said with some fervour.

"It's not like I was looking forward to it," she grumbled. "It's just something that always has to be factored in." He froze and pushed back away from her, holding her at an arm's length.

"What part of that factor involved cutting me out of the gestalt?" he asked with an anguished tone and she winced.

"The part where I rather hoped you might survive, love," she sighed. "I didn't want you to die too."

"Susan. Listen to me very carefully. I cannot watch you die again while being 'saved.' It cannot happen. When you die, we die together." He was holding her face in his hands, staring into her eyes and she could see how deep the pain went in him.

* * *

"I... Oh love, I just want you to be okay. I left you a TNA sample for cloning and my engrams for a download, so you could have another me, but I just hated the thought of killing you, after all you've gone through already. I guess I wasn't thinking clearly. I'm sorry," she told him, tears trembling in her eyes, her face agonized as she spoke. For the second time, he pulled her back into his arms holding her against him.

"You have nothing to be sorry about," he replied, even though the thought of trying to clone Susan, after his experiences with the Mashas, Rassilon, and the Command Centre, made him feel as if he had been stabbed through the hearts. "I know you meant only the best, you always mean only the best, but you can never ask that of me. I cannot do it. I don't have the strength. I can't. I just can't." He didn't let go of her, and his energy had gone all flat and gray even at the thought of it.

She clung to him, crying, her tears soaking into his hospital gown.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you," she told him through her sobs. "I didn't want you to suffer. I'm so very sorry."

Koschei burst into the room and looked between them in dismay.

"What's wrong, what happened?" he asked and came over to lay a hand on them both.

"My fault," Guinn managed, even as Susan shook her head.

"No, it was me," she corrected and Koschei looked at them both and then barked a short laugh.

"It was probably all three of us, honestly," he sighed. "Still, I'm glad you're awake. I was getting worried and the Doctor was torturing the poor TARDIS with his fretting, he's taken the whole console apart."

Guinn nodded and tried to struggle free of the malaise that had settled on him. It was a bit like trying to extricate himself from lead shoes.

"I've upset you," he told Susan. "Why don't I go get the Doctor sorted and Koschei can bring you a cup of tea."

She nodded against his shoulder, but didn't let go of him. She was radiating penitent misery and anguished guilt. He just held her, stroking her hair and glad for the chance to do so, cold and sick with the thought that he could have had to watch her die twice. He was doubly glad that she was alive.

"Come on, Susan, let's get some tea. Let Guinn breathe," Koschei said gently, rubbing her back and giving Guinn a look of understanding.

Guinn was trying to radiate calm for Susan, but privately, over Susan's head where she couldn't see him, he gave Koschei a look.

/You, of all people, ought to have known better./

/I tried to tell her, but she was too worried for you. She knew that we were too bound up for me to survive, but she still hoped that she could at least save you./ Koschei shrugged helplessly.

Guinn stroked Susan's hair soothingly.

/Save me for what?/

/I know you probably wouldn't have survived it anyway, but it made her feel better,/ he sighed.

/Yes, and that's… really what matters here,/ he agreed, though there was a cold hard stone in his stomach at the thought of what had almost been required of him, and what might still be required in the future.

/I don't think she'll try to leave you out of it again,/ Koschei replied. /Besides, soon you'll be as tied into her as I am and it will be a moot point./

/I doubt I will ever be bound in as closely as you two./ He shook his head, fighting down a surge of envy. / The Arkytior could burn her out at any time, you know./

/I don't think it's going to happen, but even if it did, it's just the risk we have to take. It's the price of loving her,/ Koschei answered. /I accepted that a long time ago. I think its... she's worth it./

/Of course she is, I just… I haven't got the strength to watch her die again./

/Then we'd better damn well keep her alive, hadn't we?/ Koschei sent back, his mind like iron.

/Yes,/ he agreed.

"Now, love, please let Guinn up, so he can rescue the TARDIS from your grandfather," Koschei coaxed Susan who looked up at Guinn with a heartbroken expression.

"Can you forgive me?" she asked softly and he kissed her forehead.

"There is nothing to forgive. You didn't do anything wrong," he told her.

She buried her face in his shoulder again for a moment and then drew back, standing up and nodding at him.

"I'll get some tea going," she told him softly.

"I will go and rescue the TARDIS from the Doctor," he told her with a smile and she forced a small smile onto her own lips.

"Croissants?" she asked.

"Croissants sound lovely," Guinn agreed and she smiled more naturally and went off with a lighter step. Guinn looked at Koschei and nodded slowly. The price of loving her could one day be very steep indeed, but Koschei was right, it was worth it.

* * *

"She got a scare too," Koschei sighed out to Guinn as he helped him get dressed.

"Oh?" His other self's dark eyes looked up at him in concern.

"It went weird towards the end," Koschei explained. "The Arkytior was trying to tell her something, but she can't make any sense of it yet. There was too much and she feels like she nearly got us all killed because she wasn't clever enough to understand faster." He gave Guinn a wry look. "Because of course, having a Power shove knowledge into your head ought to be easy and she's just not that bright.," he grumbled.

Guinn nodded mutely, leaning against one of the medi-bay tables and shaking in every limb. His shields were up; he obviously didn't want Susan to see how he was feeling.

"You lean on me, we'll go slow," Koschei told him and put an arm around him.

"I can't do it," Guinn told him. There was shame in his voice. "I can't do it twice, I just can't."

"Guinn, we'll keep her alive, both of us, together, we can do this," Koschei told him, suddenly worried about more than just Guinn's injuries.

"You really think so?"

"I've already managed for two hundred years, all by myself," Koschei pointed out. "With you here, we can do this for as long as we need to. What happened with Adie was rare. We've never had to go that close before, Susan usually keeps Her far away. This was the only way to save Adie, but it's not something we'd ever do in any other situation. For the rest of the time, it's just a matter of talking her down if she gets mad and you already know how to do that."

He was silent for several minutes, leaning on Koschei heavily. He pretended not to notice Guinn's weakness, knowing he would be embarrassed by it.

"Yes, true, I can do that, of course.

"Now, let's go rescue the TARDIS," he said.

"After you."

* * *

Susan puttered about in the kitchen, trying not to feel like she'd been thrown off of a speeding train. Her plan to try to keep from killing Guinn had been borne of her love for him, but as she sorted through the emotions he'd expressed, she gathered that it was crueller to let him live without her than to let him die.

She wasn't at all sure how she felt about that.

"Hey Susan," Diana called, coming into the kitchen with a smile on her face. "Love the hair!"

"Thank you," Susan replied absently and Diana frowned.

"What's up?"

"I just don't think I'm worth dying for, I suppose," Susan sighed out and Diana blinked hard at the non-sequitur.

"Um, okay, who's dying for you?" Susan laughed at Diana's baffled expression.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to confuse you." She took a breath and tried to figure out how to say what she was feeling. "I almost died, we almost died, Koschei and I, while we were shielding Adie."

"Crap," Diana exclaimed, eyes going wide in shock.

"I was burning up, that's why my hair is short, I was on fire. Koschei and I were about to dump Guinn out of the gestalt, but he stepped in and shielded us. He nearly died. I was trying to save his life, but he thought saving me, saving us, was more important and I can't quite wrap my head around it."

Diana was silent for a while, chewing that over, before she finally answered.

"Having accepted the premise that he is capable of love," she began with a dubious tone. "Which was a shock when I realized it, I ought to point out… I could see his point of view. If something was going to kill Jake, I would absolutely put myself in the middle. No question." She paused. "Which reminds me: I know it is a bit of a derail, and I am sorry, but I need you to fix my lifespan to match his. He'll grow old, and we need to grow old together."

"I understand and I will do what I can," Susan agreed. "Yes, Guinn is capable of love. He loved the other version of me and was devastated to lose her and I knew that intellectually, but for him to say what you just said, that he wants to live only as long as I do, it's ... I don't... I've never seen myself as someone anyone would die for, that's all. I wanted my husband, David, to live as long as I did and I don't want to live beyond Koschei and Guinn, but I guess I'm a bit slow, because I didn't think about it going back the other way, too." She gave Diana a rather wry look. "Must run in the family, being a bit thick." Diana shook her head.

"I don't think you're thick. I think you're brilliant. But, I mean… think about it from his point of view. If you were to die… I mean, what is he going to do? Clone a replica? After all of us? Ew," she said and Susan winced. "Otherwise, he dies alone, and he's been alone for how long now? He found you again and doesn't want to lose you and I don't blame him." She paused. "Which doesn't mean I am not still mad at him!" She said. Her tone, however, indicated that she was less mad than she would actually admit to herself. "But… I mean, come on, you were everything to him. You've been together for, what, six weeks, and then you burn up? I bet he's freaked right out."

"Yes, he was 'freaked right out'," Susan admitted with a small smile. "It's hard for me though. I've spent my entire life being ... oh, I don't know... the other one, the granddaughter, the one that everyone thought was odd, the one no one listened to or paid much attention to."

"No, that was just because you were with the Doctor, and he had everyone's head spinning so much they couldn't see anything. Now you are all grown up and you are the ravishing -ginger -temptress -and-vixen!" Diana nodded quite seriously.

Susan stared at her with her mouth slightly open, eyes wide, and shook her head.

"No, I'm the dull, practical one, the one who bakes the cookies and raises everyone else's children," she protested.

"Ravishing-ginger-temptress-and-vixen,-who-also-bakes-cookies! Even better!" Diana looked at her, but looked a little sad. "Susan… I am sorry if this is prying but… you can't have children?"

"Not right now, no," Susan admitted. "I had a rather bad regeneration and then, when Koschei was dying, I gave him a chunk of mine. I'll just have to wait until my next regeneration and hope my energy has recovered enough by then." She crossed her arms over her stomach, fighting back tears, and forced a smile onto her lips. "It'll be fine. I don't think either Koschei or Guinn is ready for fatherhood just yet anyway, do you?"

"Last time I checked, all it took to be a father was a few spare body parts and a brain the size of a garbanzo bean," Diana snarked, but pulled Susan into a hug. "It'll be okay. Don't worry."

"You may be right about fathers, Diana, but I would like my children to have a better one than I did," she sighed. "But, it's not like I have time right now anyway. I have to clone my whole race back, cure Aislynn, and take care of my husbands."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Mused Diana, and then looked a little sad herself. "I don't know if Jake wants children. I didn't tell him I couldn't have any..." She paused, then shook herself out of it. "Wait, what did you say about Aislynn?"

"Oh," Susan drew back and wiped her eyes. "Dar found another Time Lord on Earth, but she's really sick and its a serious problem, because the cure is really hard to manufacture. I have to find a way to cure her though."

"Susan!" Di took Susan's arms and shook her, not hard but with a kind of ferocity. "You know where she is? Lady A is the one who got me out of the Loops in the first place! If it wasn't for her none of us would be here, do you understand that? I would be fighting Reapers to this day!"

"Oh! I thought she looked familiar! She's the one the terrorists were using the image of, right?" Susan cried. "That's your friend?"

"Yes. We busted out of the Loop with one TARDIS, only one TARDIS, I don't understand how that worked, it must have shot the Elysium all to hell. I've been looking for her ever since I saw her image."

"She's a Singer, it's a special kind of mathematician, you see," Susan murmured. "I was already worried about this, now I am really worried."

"Why?"

"Because she's your friend! I don't want to fail not just her, but you!" Susan replied, looking unhappy. "This is a really serious... oh, hey, I bet a simple Nanite booster would work on you though!"

"Good, because I am going over there this minute. How bad is it, Susan? Really?"

"No, no, wait! I need you to get a shot before you go! She's highly contagious and, if her illness spreads, it could wipe out all life on Gallifrey and Earth in a matter of months!" Susan told her, looking rather panicked. "Please! Let me make sure you don't become a carrier!"

"Fine, fine, but we do it right now, agreed? And I notice you dodged the question on how bad it is," she scowled.

"That's because I don't quite know yet. I need to give the scans to Koschei and Guinn and have them give me their assessment. Untreated, she could die in the next three weeks, but if we can get her on a regimen, we could save her life. She could live out her full lifespan," Susan replied.

"Regimen it is. Give me the scans and I will walk them over."

"Shot first. I want you to go there. I need you to go see Aislynn and take medicine for her. I need you to go and help take care of her, okay?" Susan told her.

"Done. But, shots first, scans next, visit third."

"Agreed," Susan chuckled and led her off to the clinic. "And then tea and croissants for my husbands."

"I'll take them with the scans," Diana said with a deadly, purposeful smile.

"Be gentle with Guinn, please, he had a bad scare," Susan warned and opened up a wall panel, taking out a series of silver toned vials from it. She studied them for a moment, thinking hard.

Diana rolled up her sleeves and offered her arm. Susan put the first vial into a tube and pressed it against Di's inner elbow, she felt pressure and then it was withdrawn, leaving no mark. Susan refilled the tube two more times with differently labelled vials and injected her with them as well.

"That might be overkill, but better safe than sorry," Susan told her with a shrug.

"You know me," Diana said with a grin, "I've always been a fan of overkill. Now… scans?"

Susan laughed, handed her a notepad and they went to the kitchen, where she loaded up a tray with croissants and tea, enough to feed a dozen people.

"There, take that to them, while I go get some work done and Diana...thank you," Susan told her and gave her a quick hug. "You're brilliant."

Diana hugged her back probably harder than she meant to.

"Just… make her better, okay, Susan? Please?"

"That's the plan, Diana," Susan agreed, the worried look back in her eyes, and then she headed out of the kitchen with brisk steps.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 - Round Pegs in Square Holes

Koschei and Guinn hobbled into the Console room, wincing a bit as they listened to the Doctor's efforts. Normally, their old friend was not all that bad a temporal mechanic, but when he was upset, he tended to resort to trying to bang things in place by sheer force of will.

"Um, maybe a different size circuit?" Koschei suggested and the Doctor made a grumbling noise from underneath.

He looked over at Guinn with a shrug.

"Stop assaulting that console this instant," Guinn insisted with a scowl.

"Ah!" there was a sharp banging noise. "Ow!" The Doctor crawled out from under the console, holding his head. "You're awake!"

Guinn reached down, extending a hand; helped pull the Doctor to his feet, and gave him a brief embrace.

"Awake and about to use my laser spanner on those trainers, if you do not stop abusing that console," he teased.

"Awake and in a lovely humour," the Doctor retorted and Koschei only shrugged.

"He could probably hear the TARDIS crying, even in a coma," he pointed out and the Doctor frowned at both of them.

"I'm being ganged up on," he told them and Koschei chuckled.

"No, you are being reined in," Guinn countered. "I am in a perfectly lovely humour, thank you," he took the circuit right out of the Doctor's hands.

"Fine, then you two can do the work yourselves!" the Doctor insisted haughtily and strode out of the TARDIS, grinning widely.

"Which we would have done anyway," Guinn pointed out and Koschei shrugged.

"He likes to have the last word."

* * *

Adie sat quietly in the library with her tablet, putting together that research that Susan and the Doctor had requested. There was such a volume of work to go through that it would take her several days, which had undoubtedly been their intention.

Adie saw the ploy for what it was, but didn't mind it. Being busy was helpful. She had spent all day yesterday in the library, from open to close, and had returned, bright and early, to continue today. She planned to do so every day until the assignment was completed, at which point, she supposed, she would have to find something else. It was deadly dull work, but it was something to do, and it would suffice for her purposes.

Still, there was a portion of her mind, deep and secret and shielded as best she could manage, which paid little attention to the research project, but instead turned over and over what to do about the bondmate she had never met.

It was early that afternoon when the idea occurred to her that, whether or not she ever met the person who would have been the bondmate, he would have been a real person, as real as she was, and not some shadowy, indistinct figure. He must have had a name and an appearance. This thought amused her greatly. She thought it over as she downloaded another stack of books to peruse.

She had helpers, too. A group of a dozen or so of her clones had discovered the library, and drifted in and out, reading whatever they could get their hands on, and chattering at each other in very quiet voices. They tended to treat her like a queen, which was a bit unnerving, but did mean that she had anything she wanted easily to hand, if one of the girls was nearby.

* * *

Diana took the tray and tablet to the Console Room. She caught Evie peeking in the door, but she startled and headed away at once. Several of the girls had taken to peeking in the doorway from time to time, looking at Guinn. Diana hadn't figured out whether this was healthy or not, but as Koschei and Guinn didn't seem to be bothered, and Susan hadn't said anything, she presumed it was all right.

Unlike her sisters, she wasn't in the least afraid of Guinn, and so she walked right in with the tray of croissants and tea.

"Break time!" she told them both, and set the tray on a table.

"Hi Di!" Koschei called back, looking up at her with a smile, while Guinn merely nodded politely to her. Diana looked right at her former torturer.

"Guinn," she said, "Have I ever got a deal for you." She held up the tablet as if trying to tempt him over with it.

"You have one of my own notebooks, but you will let me have it, and only demand one limb from me?" he teased.

"No," she said and her face was serious. "You fix this and I'm in your corner."

"Aw, I thought you were already in our corner," Koschei protested with a small frown.

Guinn took the notebook, and looked at the data, his face growing still and grim as he did so.

"I don't care if you are or are not in my corner, Diana, this needs to be fixed regardless. I cannot allow someone to die from this," Guinn told her softly.

"Oh, yeah, that's the one Dar was telling us about," Koschei sighed. "I have some preliminary work started, but these scans will help." He took the notepad from Guinn and scanned it.

"Great. I knew you would work on it. I'm going there now. I just stopped by to drop these off for you."

"We're on it." Guinn assured her and smiled, before realizing what he was doing, and frowning at the floor again.

Diana looked at Koschei expectantly.

"Diana, it's going to take several hours for us to fully analyse these scans and plan a full regimen for her. Susan has some stored Nanites in the clinic that can be used to stabilize her, to slow this down and give us time to work, but this isn't going to be fixed tomorrow. It could take months of treatments before she's cured, if she ever is completely. Worst case, we can slow it down and give her a longer time to live, but she'll never be free of them completely. Best case, we can eradicate all the Nanites in her system and she'll be perfectly fine, but I won't know which it is until after we do the analysis, okay?"

Diana seemed satisfied with this.

"Fine, I'll check back by this evening. In the meantime, I am heading down there to see how bad it is."

"You're what!" Koschei sputtered.

"Susan just gave me a booster," Di pointed out. "But, I can wear one of those suit things if it would make you feel better."

"No," Guinn assured her. "Between the work I did on your immune system and Susan's booster Nanites, you'll be fine. Have a nice visit."

Diana nodded, waved, and headed out.

The two of them then turned to the data and went to work.

* * *

Gaige woke that morning from a terrible dream and shook his head, trying to dislodge the misery that the dream had invoked. He threw back the brightly coloured woven blankets and rose from the bed, pushing open the wooden shutters and looking out at the city.

The first sun, was risen, the second sun barely peeking over the top of the walls and the third sun was nowhere to be seen. Six in the morning, he judged and then peered out the window to try to glimpse the water clock that stood in the centre of the square down below, as usual he had no luck spotting it through the early morning market crowds.

"Lieutenant!" Sergeant Djelly called out to him and banged lightly on the doorframe of his room.

"Yes!" he replied, going to the wardrobe and pulling on the loose trousers and shirt that he wore beneath the tan vest that had the embroidered badge of his regiment on it.

"Are you going to sleep till the devil rises?" the sergeant teased and Gaige forced a chuckle, feeling anything but amused just then and not knowing why.

"I'm dressed and ready," he contradicted the sergeant, throwing open the door and then going to put on his boots and strap the pistols and short curving sword on.

"If you call that ready," came the reply and Gaige did smile a bit then.

Sergeant Djelly was a typical Azari Bal native, slender and wiry, with ebony hair and eyes, skin darkened by the heat of the three suns and with the rigid posture of a man who'd spent his entire adult life in the Sultan's army.

Gaige stepped before the mirror over the sink in his bathroom and set the peak brimmed army kepi on his head, flicking the dangling cloth back a bit, to protect his neck from the heat. The hat hid his hair, so long bleached by the three suns that it was nearly white, but did nothing to disguise the paleness of his eyes. They were a startling gray in his darkly tanned skin and marked him out as different from the other citizens of this world.

Gaige had never told any of them just how different he really was and prayed that they would never find out. He suspected that being burned at the stake would be a hard thing to survive, even for a Time Lord.

* * *

If there was one sound that Aislynn had not been expecting to hear, it was the chime of the front door opening. Startled, she went into the hallway, to meet Owen, who looked as surprised as she did. "What was that bell?" he said.

"It was the airlock!" She shook her head suddenly. "Oh, I ought to have known. Owen, would you be so good as to go up to the console room? I expect that there will be a young lady there, with dark hair and bio-luminescent eyes. Her name is Masha. She's the only other person who has a key. I'll be along in a moment, go on now." She wasn't very fast on her feet nowadays, and she knew that he knew that, but still was reluctant to let him see. "Be quick, she's very excitable, we oughtn't to keep her waiting too long."

Owen headed up the hallway, hearing a new voice drift down:

"Lady-A!" it called. "I know you're in here!"

The girl in the console room fitted Aislynn's description to a T. She was at the console, but turned when Owen came in. "Hey," she smiled at him.

"My name's Diana, you must be the doctor taking care of Lady-A."

"Are you mad?" he gasped. "You'll be infected!"

Nah, I'm basically immune, and Susan gave me a booster shot just to be on the safe side. Anyway, I brought a bunch of supplies for Lady A from Susan," she told him and handed him the bulky packages.

"Oh, well, I see," he replied, rather nonplussed. "I'm Owen, Dr Owen Harper," he introduced himself and extended a hand to her in greeting, balancing the packages against his chest awkwardly.

"My name is Diana, but you can call me Masha too, if you want," she beamed.

"Aislynn isn't feeling very well, but she will be happy to see you," Owen assured her.

"Susan told me she was sick. How bad is it?"

"Bad," he sighed out. "But, we're all working to try to save her, she's got the best doctors in the world... several worlds actually." Diana nodded.

"Susan's like, this prodigy I guess, or at least that's what all the other doctors say." She looked at Owen thoughtfully. "So, it should be all good."

I'm not about to let anything happen to her." He gave Diana a look of fierce approval and nodded. "You keep harassing Susan and I'll keep on nagging Aislynn to rest and eat, how's that?"

"Here's my number, Susan says I am immune to this crap since she gave me the booster shot, so you need anything, you call me, you hear? And I'll Trans Mat right over," she said and then looked up with a smile. "Lady A!"

Aislynn had come up to meet them.

"Masha!"

Diana flew into her arms and almost knocked her over: Aislynn hugged her hard. For a moment it was impossible to get a word in edgewise.

"My dear girl…"

"Wow! I am glad to see you…"

"You look so well, I am so pleased…"

After a minute Diana pulled back and poked Aislynn on the chest.

"Listen, I am super-glad to see you, but so help me, if you ever stick another Trans Mat sticker thingie on me, I will pull your ears off! Do you hear me!" She hugged her again, hard.

"There was going to be an explosion!" Aislynn protested.

"I've dealt with explosions before! Come on, let's get you to the kitchen before you fall down," Diana jerked her head at Owen to take her other elbow. He set the packages down outside the Medi-bay and came to help Aislynn.

"I am hardly an invalid," she protested, but accepted the help.

The table was all set up. Aislynn had prepared it while Diana and Owen had been chatting and there was tea for herself, coffee for Owen, and cocoa for Diana.

Owen settled Aislynn into her seat and then poured for her, before sitting down and sipping at his coffee. Diana opened a bowl, which was full of marshmallows, and spent some time filling the cup with as many as it could possibly hold without overflowing.

"So, Aislynn has mentioned you, but I never heard the story of how you two actually met. Want to fill me in?" Owen asked., while Aislynn took a sip of her tea.

"I think Masha ought to tell the tale," she said, her emerald eyes amused. "She has quite a flare for that sort of thing."

"Okay, sure, oh, and there's a lot that you don't know." She took a sip of her cocoa, thought hard, and began.

It took much longer than she had anticipated. Owen didn't know any of the story, including the beginning, and Aislynn didn't know the end, so she was obligated to go through the entire thing, start to finish. By the time she had finished, she had gone through the cocoa and two glasses of soda afterwards.

"...and that is kind of where everything is at the moment," she finally finished.

"That was quite a story," Owen murmured at the end of it. "Sort of beats the story of my five year old niece beating up a clown at the circus."

Aislynn had both her hands over her mouth.

"Oh Adyra, that poor girl," she said slowly. There were tears in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say more, but almost choked, and had to take a sip of tea. "Masha… you mentioned something about a command centre?"

"Yeah, the Doctor is planning to go there, he thinks there might be stuff about Adie's bondmate there."

Aislynn's face was solemn.

"I think that is an excellent idea. Please see to it that they do go."

"Okay," she agreed.

"What I want to know, is how did that Darginian fellow know that you needed a check-up, Diana?" Owen asked. "Did he know about the Project already?"

"That… was probably my doing, actually," Aislynn admitted.

"What!" Diana scowled.

"Even though my medi-bay was basically non-functional, it was clear to me that something tremendous had happened to you. I felt that it was crucial to follow up, both for your sake and for the sake of the colony. So, when Darginian came by to speak with me, I suggested that to him."

"Good instincts," Owen agreed. "Turned out to be rather critical indeed." He shivered, obviously thinking about the possible damage.

"And now you are telling me to check out the command centre? Presumably with those same instincts?" Diana asked and Aislynn nodded. "Right then. I'll check it out." She rose. "Come on, Owen, walk me out. Lady-A, you are nodding off, so go to bed."

"I am not an invalid! I also recall that we had a discussion about calling me 'Lady-A!'" Aislynn said in a long suffering tone.

"Invalid, no. Nodding off, yes. Bed. Come on, Owen." Diana headed for the door.

"Yes ma'am, coming, ma'am," he teased. "Better humour her, Aislynn, she's fierce." He nodded at Aislynn and then followed Diana out to the console room. She looked almost in tears.

"You gotta take care of her, Owen."

"I know, Diana," he told her and his face was serious. "It will be okay, she's already better than she was."

She hugged him suddenly, hard and Owen patted her back a bit awkwardly, looking surprised, but not upset.

"If anything changes, I want to be the first to know! Do you hear me?."

"I hear you, don't fret too much, we're all looking out for her. All the Torchwood folks bring her stuff," he murmured. "Now, I have to go and run the machine for her, it's time for her next treatment. Thank you for delivering those filters, I was running low."

"I'll be back soon, " she promised, and headed out. He waved good-bye and with a small smile went back to his patient and friend.

* * *

The Doctor leaned back and put his feet up on the footrest and picked up his cup of tea, giving Darginian a thoughtful look as he did so.

Susan's Library on her TARDIS was a lovely structure. Three stories of carved stone neo-gothic elegance with carved wooden spiral stairs between each level. A large fireplace dominated one wall with an excellent holograph of a pleasant fire crackling in it. The red leather couches didn't fit in with the Gothic theme, but they were sinfully comfortable.

Just then the Doctor and Dar had the room to themselves as the spy brought him up to speed on everything that he hadn't bothered to tell him before.

"So, an Infected... on Earth," the Doctor replied, his tone wintry.

"I know, but I had Torchwood on alert, they were watching her every second," Dar assured him.

"Yes, somehow, the terrorists managed to get a bomb into her apartment and blow it up," the Doctor pointed out. "Do you think the planet would have lasted three months or only two, if she'd gotten spread out over the whole area?" He asked the question with a sharp undertone of anger and Dar winced.

"I had contingency plans," he promised and the Doctor sighed out.

"Two men died, Dar," he protested. "So, those plans weren't all that great, were they?"

"I didn't expect them to take out the building," Dar told him with an unhappy look.

"No, that wasn't at all their MO, blowing things up!" he snarked.

"Well, yes, but that was before I'd gotten the DNA back, I didn't know they were psychotic back then!"

"I am getting the feeling that you have a story to tell me, Dar," the Doctor replied, weaving his fingers together and settling in to listen. He knew it was his own fault for letting the spy have an agency of his own. It was too tempting to those sorts, they got all clandestine and 'need to know' and common sense just flew out the window.

He'd just have to watch Dar more carefully from now on.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 - Ghost in the Machine

"Hey. Hey!" Tomoko blinked and looked up. Diana was shaking her shoulder. "Did you forget to carry a two? We weren't halfway done with our circuit, when Tomoko Construct began hollering her lungs out. Leela and Andred are exploring the cannoneering deck without me!" She turned her tablet around to face Tomoko, showing the cartoonish face of Tomoko Construct.

"Input is required," complained Tomoko Construct. "Input is required."

Tomoko looked chagrined.

"Wow, has it really been that long? The circlet was a last-minute change, since Guinn didn't want me jacking in, it's a very different interface, I suppose I lost track of time, just a minute, let me calculate…" She concentrated for a moment, thinking, then recited a string of numbers to Tomoko Construct.

Tomoko Construct looked satisfied.

"Timer reset," she announced. "Diana-37; please proceed with sweep of Cannoneering Deck 44-slash-B2."

"You okay?" Diana asked with a worried look. Tomoko waved a hand absent-mindedly.

"Yes, yes, I am fine," she agreed. "Go on with the sweep, you don't want to make the others late."

After Diana left, Tomoko rubbed her eyes wearily. The circlet was very efficient, but it was disorienting… she couldn't quite recall what she had been doing, which was a bit unusual. Bound to be glitches with a last-minute addition like that, of course.

Still, perhaps she would review via the monitor screens for a while. Slower, but something in her head wanted resting. Koschei had been right; that thing was tiresome to use.

She directed the output flow to the monitor screens, disconnecting the circlet and throwing it into the bag for the moment, and peering with weary eyes at the images.

* * *

"So, this is the Food Court, eh?" Rose asked, looking around at the shuttered food stalls. She had noticed long ago that Time Lords liked round shapes and this place was no exception. It was another circular space, like the plaza on Gallifrey, with little domed stores arranged around the edges. The colours however were the dull bronze and brown industrial shades that had dismayed her so much when they arrived. The straight up and down infinity symbol was carved everywhere, like the builders really never wanted you to forget that this was a Time Lord base.

"It was," Adie agreed. The Food Court looked full, because there were holograms wandering here and there among the tables and benches. "Most of the replicators still run. They shut everything off when they left, but it was easy to start up again."

"This is lovely, you can get all the classic Gallifreyan home cooked meals in this one, Atraxi cuisine here, oh! Sushi!" the Doctor exclaimed. "But no Fish and Chips, bah!"

"Wait, I thought Sushi was fish?" Adie asked in confusion.

"Wrong type," Rose explained. "Sushi is raw fish, Fish and Chips is deep fried in batter and delicious." She closed her eyes in remembered bliss.

"I like Sushi too, though," the Doctor assured Adie.

Adie absent-mindedly took a tray from the stack.

"It sounds unhealthy," she said doubtfully.

"Nonsense," the Doctor told her. "Those people who say that everything good is bad for you are completely wrong. Susan told me that in moderate portions everything is fine for you, it's just... Adie, do you have two holograms of that Farian chap?" the Doctor asked suddenly.

Adie turned a full hundred and eighty degrees, then dropped her tray and was off like a shot. The image had just moved out of sight around the corner, but the sound of an additional pair of running feet came to their ears.

"Rose," the Doctor announced. "I don't think that was a hologram." They looked at each other and then took off running after Adie.

Adie turned the corner and got out of sight of the Doctor and Rose for a moment. They came around the corner and there was no one there. The stopped and looked around.

"How many times!" the Doctor grumbled. "Don't wander off? Why is that so hard?"

* * *

Adie felt a pair of hands grab her and barely had time to squeak, before she was dragged backwards and a door slid silently shut in front of her, trapping her behind it.

She turned and it was Farian, alive and in the flesh, looking as scatterbrained as ever; and she threw her arms around him.

"You're alive! Oh God, you're alive!"

"Adyra!" He crushed her with the strength of his embrace. "Oh sweetheart, you're hurt, what happened? Did the Master do this to you? Oh sweetie!" He looked almost beside himself.

"No… it's complicated… It…it… it… I.. it… " Adie wasn't good at speaking in high-pressure situations anyway, and now found herself stammering over a thousand things she needed to tell him, all of them seeming more important than all the others.

"Oh, Papa!" She finally managed, and clung to him hard.

"Oh, sweetie, don't worry, we'll fix it, we'll find a way, don't you worry now." He hugged her just as hard. "Listen, the Master is on board, we are going to have to hide you for a while."

Adie shook her head.

"No, everything has changed… listen, I was with the Doctor and Rose… where are they? They should have been right behind me."

"The Doctor? He's here? Yes, he can help us, we need to get away from the station before Rassilon comes back!" Farian told her and she looked at him grimly.

"Rassilon's dead. A lot of people are dead." She took his arm, giving it a little shake, her eyes huge and scared. "Papa... we lost the war."

Farian stared at her, then crushed her to him.

"Oh sweetie," he said in a rather strangled tone. "The Daleks… are they here?'

"No, they're all dead."

"Rassilon is dead too?"

"Yes."

"The Time Lords?" he asked fearfully.

"We're starting over."

Farian nodded, leaning against the wall, looking absolutely sick. Adie held onto him. After a minute or two, he swallowed hard.

"Are you all right?" Adie was looking frightened.

He summoned a weak smile for her.

"I'm fine. It's just a lot to absorb. For now, we need to concentrate on the present. For the time being, we just have to get you away from the Master."

"First we need to get you to the Doctor! He'll explain everything, I'll just gum it all up, he should be right around here, please, Papa!"

"All right, Adyra, it's all right, we'll find him," he assured her. "I woke up two days ago, and the whole station was empty." He shuddered at that, then hit a button on the wall and the door slid open. On the other side, standing in the hallway, was the Doctor and Rose.

"Allo!" the Doctor greeted them. "Adie, is this your friend?"

"Doctor! Rose! Farian is alive! Papa, this is the Doctor, and this is his wife Rose."

"Pleased to see you again, Farian old chap!" the Doctor said enthusiastically, shaking the scientist's hand. "Last time we met was at my Mum's house, I think."

"Hello," Rose added, waving at him with a smile.

"Doctor, we have to get Adyra away from the Master, quickly!" Farian told him in a harsh whisper and the Doctor's face fell.

"Ah, yes, things have changed a bit, old man," the Doctor sighed out. "When Rassilon died, the Master... changed. Turned out that Rassilon was actually controlling his mind." he tapped his forehead and Farian blinked in surprise and then became thoughtful.

"Yes, that actually makes sense," Farian admitted. "I wondered really, he was such a sweet little boy."

"He's, um, recovering, or trying to," Adie managed to stammer. "He's not… I mean… he's not going to try to kill you."

"Well that's good. You know, when his mother killed herself we all felt terrible about it," Farian muttered. "His father, no good that one, not at all. So, how did Rassilon die? Please tell me he tripped and fell into a black hole!"

The Doctor drew Farian back to the food court and sat him down.

"It's a long story and you might want to sit for it."

* * *

Andred, Leela, and Diana in the meantime, weren't having a great deal of fun, opening doors and looking into rooms, and then closing the doors again.

"This is boring," Leela grumbled.

"I know," Diana said, "But there's got to be something. If Lady-A says there's something here, there's something here."

"I don't doubt that, but it's not... oh my," Andred murmured as they stepped into a huge workshop. Weapons in various stages of construction were laid down on various tables and tools of every conceivable type were neatly racked along the walls.

As they stepped in, a hologram appeared in the centre of the room. A slender, green-eyed woman, with a mass of chocolate brown hair was standing quietly watching them.

"Pass code required for entry," she announced.

"Sec," Diana called back and fished out her laptop, flipping it open to show Tomoko Construct's animated face. "Hey," she asked her. "Ask Tomoko for the passcode for this room."

"Don't bother," Andred said softly. "Susanatrevelararkytior," he told the hologram and it nodded.

"Pass code correct," she replied.

Diana looked thrilled.

"Boo-ya Andred! Well done!"

"Yeah," he sighed out and looked at the hologram with a deeply unhappy expression.

"What is it?" Diana asked with a frown.

"That's Susan, after her first regeneration," Leela explained, gesturing at the hologram. "That's what she looked like."

"What project would you like to work on today?" the hologram asked and smiled sweetly, which was when the resemblance became clear to Diana. Susan still had that same smile.

"Um… can you list the choices?" Diana asked hopefully. "Pay attention, Tomoko Construct."

"Recording." the construct assured her.

"Certainly," she agreed. "Ion Cannon, Laser Cutters, Time Bomb, Grace Reset, D-Mat Bomb, Laser Web, Temporal Destabilizer, Probability Canon, Stealth and Combat Suits, or That Stupid Damn Lens for That Bastard." Susan chuckled at the last one.

"Oooo! Stealth and Combat Suits!" Di said enthusiastically. "I am totally bringing back a souvenir for Jake-77," she told Leela and Andred.

"Grace Reset, please," Andred said instead and both Leela and Diana glared at him.

"Grace Reset Project has been chosen," the hologram of Susan agreed.

"What's a grace reset?" Diana asked.

"I don't know, it's the only one I didn't recognize," he explained.

"Andred! We're standing in something called a Temporal Grace Point!"

"Which is why I want to know," he agreed calmly.

"Plans and schematics are as follows, would you like to begin work?" The Susan hologram asked.

"Not right now, just show me the plans and schematics, please," Andred replied, nudging Diana and her tablet into a better position to scan it all.

"Displaying," she replied and images began to scroll across a screen that materialized beside her.

"Downloading," said Tomoko Construct.

"Thank you, Susan," Andred said softly and the hologram smiled at him and then cocked her head.

"Any time, Andred," she chuckled and then vanished.

"Hey! What happened to stealth and combat suits!" Di protested, then turned on Andred. "You owe me a stealth and combat suit!" She scolded him.

"You already have one. You're wearing it," he pointed out, gesturing to a nearby table where an earlier version of the suit she was wearing was laid out in a partially completed state.

"This is the stealth one," Di said. "I thought there might have been a combat one too. Like, a set."

"Diana, he abandoned this place over a hundred years ago. It's not like the technology here is exactly cutting edge. He could build better things for you now in his sleep," Andred replied, walking over to a nearby shelf of tools.

"That's true," Diana mused thoughtfully. "I suppose it's habit… I am just so used to scrounging for whatever I can get my hands on in places like this."

"That wasn't a hologram," Andred sighed, pulling down a blocky device with wires coming out of it. "That was her Matrix imprint. No wonder she knew me."

"Wait, it was her whichy-what, now?"

"Her actual memories, stored at the moment of her death," he explained. "Her personality, her mind." He set the box down and his face fell. "All this time, I thought...well, I suppose I was a bit of an idiot really."

"We both were then," Leela told him.

"Wait… what just happened? I missed something." Diana was now frowning at them both.

"He really loves her. I know that might seem obvious to you, but you didn't know him before the War. I've never been able to believe in his reform, in his genuine attachment to Susan, marriage bond or no. But this, to do this, he would have had to hack the Matrix mainframe to get her imprint, and then design a Matrix interface that could work in the real world, rather than...," Andred paused looking at Diana's puzzled expression. "It would have taken years of work, a huge effort on his part, all just to be able to see her face, Diana."

"I could see that," Diana mused. "But… I thought Tomoko said the Matrix was full of dead people."

"His Susan died," Leela pointed out.

"No, that's not what I mean. I mean… he set that box to Susan, but are there other boxes with other people too? No, I suppose that Susan would have been the only one he cared about." She looked thoughtful. "Of course, there were other projects." She tilted her head at the box, scowling fiercely, as she always did when she was thinking hard. "Damn it all, I just wish she hadn't been so sick, we're whistling in the dark here."

"Who was sick?" Leela asked.

"Lady A," Di looked away. "That's why I came, because she said there was something here, something important. But I don't know what it was."

"Allo, everyone!" the Doctor's voice came over the intercom system. "Guess what! I found another Time Lord!"

Andred blinked and his mouth dropped open in shock.

"Another survivor!" he cried.

"This is, like, some non-Rassilon Time Lord, right? Does he know about the station? Ask him what was important here!"

"Diana," Andred scolded. "Another Time Lord! That is what was important!" With an impatient air, he turned and headed out of the room, carrying the box with the wires in it, pressed against his chest.

"Well, yes, that's fair," she mused thoughtfully. "I just don't think that was what she meant…" She looked thoughtful.

"I was hoping for a weapon, too," Leela agreed.

"Take your pick, there's a ton of them here! I am going to take one for Jake-77, he collects them, you know. Let's see, something small, and graceful… Ooo! Leela! Come look at this weird curvy blade! What do you think?" Diana studied the weapons racks, then selected a pistol with strange flowing curves. "I don't recognize this one, no telling what it does… it's pretty though… this one for Jake-77… this one for me," she beamed, and put them in the duffel before chasing after Andred.

* * *

"Allo, everyone!" the Doctor's voice came over the intercom system. "Guess what! I found another Time Lord!"

Tomoko switched her headset to intercom frequency.

"That's wonderful, Doctor," she replied, guessing from his tone that he was pleased about it, and so she hoped that the new Time Lord wasn't trying to kill all of them. "I hope they're good with maths. Because… I think… that we may have a problem."

She was looking at four monitor screens simultaneously; one was filled with circles, while two more were scrolling squat square blocks of solid mathematical notation. She had stripped down to a T shirt and jeans, and her eyes were like little lasers as they flew back and forth, reading each line as it flew up the screen. The air shimmered around her, distorting in wavy uncertain lines of heat. Her hands were on the keyboard, but she had forgotten to type; she was completely involved in the numbers that she was seeing across the screen.

The last monitor screen, on the far end of the bank, was at that moment facing the back of Tomoko's head, and featured the face of Tomoko Construct. Tomoko Construct was talking, but the monitor was not equipped with speakers, headphones, or any sort of sound. Still, if one could read lips, it was possible to make out what she was trying to say.

"Heat alert," she mouthed. "Ambient heat levels have risen above designated safety limits. Heat alert. Ambient heat levels have risen above designated safety limits…"

Tomoko normally paid fairly close attention to Tomoko Construct, but now she was staring at the numbers, open-mouthed. They were scrolling crazily across the screen and her lips were moving slightly as she tried to follow them. Tomoko Construct frowned.

"Implementing Emergency Interrupt," she mouthed and all Tomoko's screens suddenly went blank. "Access Suspended," they all said in flashing red letters.

"What…" Tomoko blinked at the screen, thrown completely off by the sudden interruption.

It was only then, when her mind was forced back to the here-and-now, that she caught the heat build up. It hit her like a ton of bricks and she arched her back, grabbing her head with both hands as she was suddenly aware of her smoking hair. Long strings of plastic clung to her fingertips, like melted cheese, the keyboard keys upon which she had been resting her hands displaying deep indentations. She turned to Tomoko Construct's monitor.

"Yaagh! Quick, show me the…"

But it was too late. Although Tomoko Construct correctly guessed what Tomoko had wanted, and flashed up a map showing the route to the nearby pool, Tomoko's hair was smouldering now.

"The. The. The. The. The. The. The…" Tomoko tried to head for the door, but she couldn't see it and rebounded off the wall; and then she couldn't see anything, but the fire of her own body. She knew there was a pool nearby; she had chosen this terminal because of its proximity.

She just had to get there, except that she couldn't see anything beyond the heat shimmer and her mind was fragmenting and she couldn't think at all.

Tomoko suddenly realized that she was about to die.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 - Terminal Heat

Guinn looked up as an alarm went off in environmental.

"What is that?" Susan asked.

"A huge heat spike, in the computer rooms on level five... oh no... Tomoko!" he shouted and lunged to his feet, hitting the intercom. "Tomoko is overheating! Anyone close to level 5?"

"On it!" the Doctor's voice called back.

* * *

In the dining area, all of the holograms abruptly flicked off. Only one hologram remained, of a rather cartoonish figure.

"Emergency contact Doctor, The," Tomoko Construct announced.

"Assistance required at once, level 5, terminal B. Overheat in progress. Heat spike exceeds 138% of maximum designated safety levels. Estimated time to flameout: three hundred seconds. Immediate immersion is mandatory."

The Doctor had already jumped up, abandoning Adie, Rose, and Farian and pounding off, following the flickering hologram, as she led him down the hallway and through the next module, each projector having been turned to her use.

Tomoko was next to one of the computer terminals, her hands on her head, staggering in uneven circles. Her hair was smouldering, not on fire yet, but disintegrating into trails of red and gold sparks, giving her an eerie, sparkling halo, on the razor's edge of flame. Her bare feet were leaving marks on the mesh, and the rivets of her jeans were turning a dangerously dark colour. She was bumping blindly into the walls.

"The. The. The. The. The. The. The…." Her voice had a sizzling sound to it, and her breath smelled like cooked meat.

The Doctor stared around wildly and then saw the sign. With a grim look on his face, he grabbed Tomoko and threw her over his shoulder. The heat radiating off her was enough to make his skin blister, but he ignored the pain and charged through the door and into the Gym.

Down the hallway, he saw the glass window and the beckoning coolness of the swimming pool and he sprinted, his trainers squeaking against the white tiled floors.

Tomoko Construct was still pointing, trying to lead him to the pool.

"Yes! I bloody well know! Get out of the damn way!" he snapped at the construct. "I'm not an idiot, you know!" He was scared out of his mind for Tomoko and his anger was more directed at himself, for not keeping better track of her, than it was at the construct. In his arms, Tomoko's hair suddenly caught fire with such enthusiasm that the collar of his jacket started to smoulder.

He burst through the door and ran straight into the pool, leaping into the cold water with her still in his arms.

There was a great burst of steam as the water immediately surrounding Tomoko flashed over into turbulent bubbles, but the pool was too large for all the water to boil away. After a few moments it slowed and then stopped, the steam dissipating. Through it all the Doctor held her, keeping her face above water, but making sure her head was otherwise submerged.

For a moment, nothing happened. Tomoko lay limply in his arms, her much-shorter hair drifting back and forth with the movement of the waves. Her mouth was slightly open, and steam was rising from it in delicate curls.

Her eyes finally opened. There was hardly a thread of bio-luminescence in them. Without it, her eyes were an attractive hazel colour. She startled, then looked around and seemed surprised to find herself in a pool. She gave a great gasp, and coughed and spluttered, but when she blinked, her eyes seemed quite clear. They were slowly brightening, though they were far dimmer than usual.

"Hello," she said hoarsely, coughing a little as a bit of leftover steam gave her dragon's breath for a moment before finally dissipating for good.

"Hello," the Doctor replied, standing chest deep in the water, his hair dripping limply into his face. She rubbed her forehead.

"Heat flash. I haven't had that happen in a long time. I'm sorry, it must have scared you to death."

"Just a few years off of my life, not that much to worry about. What happened?"

"Overheated… it was my bad."

"But you've never overheated before, why now?"

Tomoko shook her head.

"I let too many variance factors stack up, it was damn stupid of me. I'm lucky I am alive. Thanks for the daring rescue, by the way."

"Daring rescues are a speciality of mine," he told her with a grin. "What do you mean by 'variance factors?" He set her on her feet, so she could stand in the water.

"I control my internal temperature by keeping close track of three basic variables: room temperature, blood chemical content, and concentration. If I can keep two out of three in balance, I'm fine. I lost concentration and so... ka-blooey!" she shrugged. "If I forget, Tomoko Construct can remind me, but when I found some temporal anomalies and started looking at the maths, I got so interested in it, I just forgot to keep track. I am so sorry to have alarmed all of you."

"I live my life in a perpetual series of alarms," he teased. "Now, tell me about these anomalies, while we are in a nice cold pool."

"Well I… I think they're Loops? I'm not sure, they look very similar, but they don't seem to be exactly the same. There's at least a dozen. That's what I was doing right before the heat flash, I had just spotted them and I was trying to figure them out."

"Well, let's go look at them, shall we?" he suggested with a smile.

* * *

Gaige clapped the Sergeant on the shoulder.

"It's not the end of the world, through, no doubt it feels that way," he told him. Djelly had been his aide and general factotum for five years now and he was quite familiar with his tendency to fall in love with the most inappropriate women.

"You say that, yet my heart is broken," he moaned and looked out the window, like a prisoner taking one last leave of sun and light before his execution.

"Lt. Randarian!" called one of the privates, coming towards them with a look of concern.

"Yes?" he replied and the young woman baulked a bit when she saw his eyes.

"Uh... Captain Rammall wants to see you," she told him uncertainly and Gaige nodded politely.

"Child of a dog! Salute a senior officer!" the Sgt. rapped out and she gave him a salute that told him she was fresh from training and still very much a city dweller. He gave her an ironic little salute in return and she blushed.

"I'd best see what the Captain wants," he told Djelly, knowing that the bluff sergeant would soon have the private sorted.

He felt a momentary pang of discomfort and rubbed at his chest. It felt like he was bleeding, but he knew that the injury had no physical cause.

With a sigh, he went to answer the Captain's summons, knowing that there was nothing else that he could do just then.

* * *

"Oh! You panicked Guinn as well, so we should tell him that you're okay," the Doctor exclaimed, but was interrupted by the sound of running feet.

They looked up to see Adie, Farian, Rose, Guinn, Susan, and Koschei slowing to a stop and staring at them.

Guinn's face was haggard and drawn and when he saw that Tomoko was all right, he slumped down to sit on the tiled floor and dropped his head in his hands.

"You're alive," he breathed out.

"As soon as we get back to Gallifrey, I am turning you full Time Lord, Tomoko!" Susan snapped out, her face still very pale from her recent scare.

"Sorry to frighten you," Tomoko nodded at them both, but her attention was primarily locked on Farian. She swam to the side of the pool and pulled herself up, and looked at him. "I know you," she told him.

"Yes, I'm Farian," he replied. "I did the Artron balancing ... uh, I worked here, before."

Tomoko shook her head, waving this off.

"You taught me to read," she said, and her eyes were shining in a different way than they usually did. "You taught me basic mathematics. Science. Astronomy. I never knew your name."

"I think you mean that I uploaded the programs for your education," he corrected gently, Tomoko shook her head.

"No. I think I mean that you used to creep into the storage tube room at night, when we were in our storage tubes, when no one was around, and read to us. I'm… not sure if the others would remember you or not, but you read to us."

"Yes, yes, I did," he replied softly. "I rather hoped that you wouldn't feel so lonely if someone came and visited you." He looked at her and smiled. "You were all such nice children."

Tomoko bowed deeply to him.

"Thank you," she told him. "You have no idea what you did for us. It meant the world."

"I'm glad," he answered and hugged her, despite the water dripping from her hair and clothes. She hugged him back hard.

"I am so glad to meet you at last!" She frowned at him. "As I understand it, this station was abandoned for at least a century. How did you live?"

"Yes, apparently it was. I was here though, in cryo sleep. It became apparent that Rassilon was ... losing patience with me, so it was decided that it would be better if I ... disappeared." He looked at Adie. "I wanted to tell you, but Rassilon was in your head so much that it really wasn't safe to do so."

"I understand."

Tomoko's eyes were resuming their old gleam.

"Are there other cryo chambers yet to be located, do you think?"

"Quite a number of them, actually," he told her with a smile spreading across his face. "We'd been using the Temporal Grace Point to hide all those workers that Rassilon decreed to be executed. Instead of killing them, we put them in cryo and hid them away. There are about thirty or forty of them that I knew of, when I went to sleep."

They all stared at him, the Doctor with his mouth hanging slightly open, and then Susan burst into tears, burying her face in Koschei's chest.

"That's the most wonderful thing I've heard in ages," the Doctor sighed out and climbed out of the pool to stand dripping on the floor.

"We should free them," Tomoko agreed. Adie seemed to be speechless, with her hands over her mouth. "Where are they?"

"Well, There was a second Grace Point," he said and Guinn's head came up in shock.

"My bolthole? You found it and used it to hide in?" he looked offended and then suddenly chuckled, shaking his head. "That was utterly brilliant!"

"Thank you," Farian murmured with a slightly abashed expression.

"Right, We'll take the TARDIS there and pick them all up," Guinn decided.

"Wait!" the Doctor interrupted. "Tomoko found something that I think we ought to look into first!"

"A secondary series of Loops… er… I think? If you would like to look at the data, I was accessing the terminal directly down the corridor." Guinn scowled.

"Those terminals require my biodata to unlock!" He pointed out but, Tomoko seemed entirely un-phased.

"Mmm-hmm, they sure do," she said, as she squelched past him. "Tomoko Construct, please conduct a temperature scan and resume computer access."

"Scanning," said Tomoko Construct. "Access resumed." Tomoko lead them to her terminal. The last scan was still up, showing the variety of spinning, roundish blobs.

"So, would one of you clever Time Lords please tell me what those are?" she snarked.

Koschei, the Doctor, and Farian leaned towards the screens. Even Adie looked around the Doctor's shoulder with an expression of deep interest.

Guinn spotted Tomoko's discarded bag of parts and scowled at it. The edge of the circlet was visible, and he strode to it and picked it up.

"You used the circlet!" he snapped. "I specifically told you..." he began, before Tomoko cut him off looking at him in some surprise.

"You didn't want me jacking in. I didn't do so."

"This is damn near the same thing!" He retorted angrily. "I said I didn't want your brain anywhere near these computers and I meant it! Look what happened! You could have died!"

"In all fairness, the heat flash occurred long after I had set the circlet aside. Ironically, that was triggered via review of monitor information."

"But, would it have happened if your brains hadn't been scrambled by whatever glitch is in the system!" he snapped back.

"He's right, you know, we discontinued all interface devices after Seraphina went mad," Farian pointed out. "There really is something very wrong with the systems."

Tomoko rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"You said the problem involved jacking in. You were extremely specific."

"Tomoko, I created the circlet in order to jack in, without needing an implant," Koschei sighed. "It's the same thing; a brain-to-computer interface."

"Then I…" Tomoko frowned. "Then I didn't correctly grasp the extent of the problem. I thought that the issue was jack-specific and so I took steps to avoid utilizing it."

"Well, let's just hope there is no permanent damage," Koschei sighed.

"They're artificially created bubble universes," Rose announced, looking up from her calculations. "Dozens of them!"

"Really?" Koschei asked and Guinn's brow creased in thought.

"That sounds vaguely familiar," he muttered. "Something about power requirements and how stupid the whole thing was."

Tomoko looked at Guinn in curiosity.

"Were you heading a project involving the creation of artificial bubble universes?" she asked.

"No, it was one of Rassilon's pet projects, something to do with hiding weapons in them and then springing them on the Daleks, or something else equally ridiculous," he replied.

"How are they created and what sustains them? These… these bubbles?" Tomoko asked, turning to Rose.

"Well, that's the interesting thing, they are formed through Block Transfer Mathematics, but they need to be fed a constant stream of energy to keep them in balance. Because they are a closed system, they can get wobbly rather quickly," she explained.

"Closed?" the Doctor asked with a frown.

"How do they bleed off entropy?" wondered Tomoko, drawing raised eyebrows from both Guinn and Koschei.

"They don't," the Doctor grumbled, looking unhappy.

"That's bad," Koschei muttered.

"Bad how?" Tomoko asked, looking at them in concern.

"If entropy is allowed to build up in a closed system, the system will decay and fall apart," Guinn explained and Rose nodded.

"How would that work," Adie asked shyly, "Would it collapse slowly or would it all be released at once?"

"All at once, I should think," Farian told her, frowning unhappily amid the scans.

"Which would be really, really bad," the Doctor informed them all and began punching queries into the computer systems.

Tomoko picked up her earpiece and discovered it had melted out of shape. She scowled at it, then pulled her phone and found the same problem and her scowl deepened.

"Tomoko Construct," she said, "Where are Di, Leela, and Andred? Find them and get them down here. Tell them we may have found what Aislynn was trying to tell us about."

"Aislynn?" Farian replied. "She survived?"

"If she can make it through the next three weeks," Tomoko snarked grimly.

"Stop being such a pessimist!" Susan protested. "I happen to be an excellent doctor and Guinn and Koschei are brilliant!"

"It was your file that said three weeks in the first place!"

"Yes, if she didn't receive treatment!" Susan retorted, hands on her hips. "I already sent the first supplies to her!"

"I know why she sent you here," Farian told them. "She helped smuggle a number of the families of workers, who were then put in cryo. She knew we were here."

"So… we have some engineers, with their families? Why didn't she just tell us that?"

"Not just engineers, we have doctors, geneticists, and several administrators. As for why she didn't tell you, well, she was ordered not to," he replied.

"Geneticists?" Susan gasped happily.

"I don't see how that is relevant more than a hundred years later?" Tomoko looked confused.

"The cure for the Nanites, Tomoko, made it so that those who were cured, were forced to obey any orders given to them by a Time Lord. It was a fail-safe, in case the Dalek Nanites got a hold of them again, they could be ordered not to kill," Susan explained.

Tomoko's face cleared.

"Thus someone who is cured becomes the perfect operative for something like that. If you phrase your order cleverly enough, they wouldn't be able to tell even under torture. You could exclude later orders from Time Lords you might not like. You could do all sorts of things if you were careful with your phrasing."

"And if you didn't mind removing another person's free will!" Susan said in some distress. "That's horrible!"

"We had no choice, Susan," Farian sighed. "If Rassilon had found out about it, we'd all have been killed, our families as well."

Susan looked at him, obviously tor,n and then shook her head.

"I'm sorry, the ends don't justify the means. Aislynn has carried this secret for over a century, unable to save you all this time, because you couldn't trust her to protect you. She'd have died before betraying you and you did that to her, when you should have simply asked her to help."

"I... It wasn't just my life, Susan. There were a lot of other people depending on this. I couldn't take the chance that Rassilon would get into her head," Farian sighed.

"We'll ask Aislynn when we see her, but until then, we need to do a full analysis of those bubble universes," the Doctor told them. "Because several of them are near inhabited systems and if they collapse..." he looked grim and didn't finish the sentence.

"Let me guess," Susan groused. "It would be very, very, very bad."

"That does seem to be the way our luck has been running."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 - Where Angels Fear to Tread

Guinn looked up, as sound of feet running feet interrupted their conversation, and a moment later Andred entered the room, followed by Leela and Diana. Diana frowned at Tomoko.

"Why are you wet?" Diana asked with her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I went for a swim," Tomoko quipped. "What did you find out?"

"Among other things, I learned that probability cannons are forty feet long, ten feet around, and wouldn't fit through the front door of the TARDIS no matter now cool they look," Diana grumbled and Guinn tried not to think about how she had figured that out.

"Tomoko construct has the rest, here's her download." Tomoko took the tablet and looked at it in some interest.

"Nor do I want a cannon on my TARDIS!" Susan retorted hotly and Guinn stood up to stand beside her and Koschei, nodding his agreement.

"Aw! Every hospital ship needs a probability cannon, it's the latest thing, didn't you know?" teased Diana. "You should see the weapons deck on this place."

"No cannons in my TARDIS, end of conversation!" Susan insisted, arms crossed and face set in a scowl. "If you'd ever seen what was left behind after one of those monstrosities had been fired, you'd understand!" Guinn shuddered just thinking about it.

"One of our more horrible, if effective, inventions," Koschei sighed, exchanging a chagrined look with Guinn. "The side effect of firing it is rather unpleasant as well." Guinn nodded, deciding that the less said about it the better.

"Andred," Tomoko interrupted, frowning at the tablet. "What am I looking at here?"

"It was this thing in the workshop," he began and Guinn felt his hearts speed up. The last thing he wanted Susan to know about was what was in his workshop.

"What were you doing in the workshop!" he demanded. "That was no place for you!"

"I'm sorry," Andred said softly and handed him a black casing with wires coming from it. Guinn grabbed it and held it against himself, one arm still around Susan, waiting for Andred to speak out and humiliated him in front of everyone.

"We liked the weapons!" Leela broke in suddenly. "I took several very fine blades."

Guinn looked at them both and relaxed subtly, nodding slowly. He was surprised, they were both looking at him with sympathy and no hostility, which was not how the trip had started out.

"You're welcome to them," he replied and she really was. He knew they were safer in her hands than in many others. "What was it you wanted to know about?"

"The Grace Reset," Andred told him and Farian frowned at him.

"I thought you'd abandoned that project," the older engineer commented abruptly.

"No... I never did. I just hadn't made any progress," Guinn admitted, feeling unhappy about even discussing it. That project hit a bit too close to home. He noticed Koschei eyeing the box in his arms and he tightened his arm around Susan, trying not to let anything slip past his shields.

"Well… what was it?" Diana prompted. "Susan, I mean, the other Susan, showed us all of these schematics and things, but then she left without saying." Guinn winced, feeling as though he'd been kicked. The very thing he hadn't wanted to discuss and he should have known that he could trust Diana to bulldoze through his emotional land-mines with blithe disregard.

Andred and Leela both turned and glared at Diana with fierce scowls on their faces.

"What other Susan?" Susan asked and Guinn grimaced, wishing he could rewind the last few minutes and try again..

"We were not going to say anything!" Andred growled at Diana and Guinn shot them a grateful look.

Diana was looking uncertain under all of the glaring, glancing back and forth between Leela and Andred.

"Um…. the other Susan is a secret?" she asked, looking utterly crushed and his hearts went out to her. It wasn't her fault she'd been dropped into a Loop and never been taught to socialize properly. It was probably his punishment for having been involved in the Project anyway.

"It's not a secret," Guinn told her with a sigh, "but, it was private!"

"It was also rather obviously not something to talk about," Andred muttered and gave Diana a repressive look.

"I'm sorry," Diana said with an abashed glance at Guinn.

"What other Susan?" Susan asked again, looking back and forth between Andred, Leela, Diana, and Guinn. He sighed out and closed his eyes.

"I hacked the Matrix," Guinn told her softly, trying to downplay it a bit. "I stole your.. the other you, her engrams."

"You hacked the Matrix? You had my ghost?" Susan asked, looking suddenly grief-stricken. "Oh, Guinn." She burst into tears and buried her face in his shirt, sobbing. She was seeing the long, lonely years of his black and white existence and it was hurting her to feel his grief and pain.

Koschei went pale and quiet and the Doctor turned away, wiping his eyes, both of them realizing what he must have gone through to do it.

"Oh, well done," scolded Tomoko to Diana.

"I'm sorry!" she cried out, looking even more upset now.

"It was private, but not secret." Guinn repeated softly to Diana. "It's okay, you didn't know." He felt bad that she was upset. She was a sweet person and didn't deserve to be chastised for his failures as a... well, parent, he supposed. It was a thought that struck him oddly.

"Well I… I am sorry… I mean, it just, I really am sorry, Guinn, honest I am."

"Wait… wait," Tomoko asked timidly. "I apologize if this is prying but… can you please explain the significance of hacking the Matrix? I don't mean the emotional impact, which was obviously very great, but from the recording on the tablet… I don't understand the difference between the image shown there and the other holograms."

"The holograms only re-play actions that were caught on the station's cameras. The Matrix has the personality download of a Time Lord at the moment of their death," the Doctor explained. "Everything they know, the ghost knows, everything they were is there. They can talk to you, answer questions, discuss lunch options." He frowned at the computer, looking angry. "It's not as good as having the dead person back again, but it's pretty close."

"I see."

"The Grace Reset," Guinn said as he cradled Susan's box against him. "It was a way to rewind history and allow me to bring back people who'd died in other timelines. I ... had no real success with it."

"Ah, I see," Andred murmured.

"So… couldn't that have been the glitch?" wondered Tomoko, looking not at Guinn but at the Doctor, the tablet in her hand, still playing the recording that Tomoko Construct had taken.

"What, Susan's ghost?" he asked and shook his head.

"Everything of Susan was in here," Guinn told her, holding out the box.

"No… conducting a project to attempt to bring people back from other timelines in the presence of a hacked copy of the Matrix. Ghost in the shell," she said.

"I didn't download the whole Matrix, I just took Susan's engrams and stored them in here. Not attached to any other system on the station. Just in my workshop, just for me." His face was stony now. "Was there any other part of my private pain you feel you'd like for me to discuss with you all?"

Tomoko hesitated for the briefest of instants, her eyes shading into an uncertain tone that was very unusual for her, and then shook her head.

"No, I apologize." She turned to her bag and packed her things in it.

"Thank you," Guinn muttered and Susan looked up at him, eyes reddened, and face filled with sorrow.

Koschei guided the others over to the computers, while Guinn and Susan left the room.

* * *

"Let's look at these bubbles!" the Doctor said loudly, trying to change the subject and the mood.

"I'll go scout or something," Diana mumbled, picked up her duffel bag, and shuffled out of the room.

"I'll go too," Leela said hurriedly, as the talk turned to physics and engineering. She ran after Diana. "Wait! I don't want to be left with the scientists!" she called, Andred following on her heels, shooting looks of terror at the science-chatter going on.

"Come on," Diana's voice snarked from down the hallway. "You can try and extract my feet from my mouth. God knows I can't do it," her voice faded away.

"I am going to go change," Tomoko said. "My clothes are all burnt. Back in ten." She left the room too.

They were standing in his office and Guinn looked around at it, wondering how he'd functioned at all. It was utterly bare, just a desk, chair, and computer station. There were no pictures on the walls, no book shelves with knick-knacks, nothing. It had no imprint of him on it anywhere, nothing to say it was his, or that he'd ever been in it, though he'd spent nearly as much time in here as he did in the workshop.

Susan leaned against Guinn and looked at the box in his hand. He was clutching it rather tightly he knew, but couldn't bring himself to let either Susan or the box go. There was no place to plug it in here, he'd restricted himself to seeing her only in his workshop, or his bolt hole, where he knew no one else would ever come in.

"I'm so sorry," Susan murmured softly, sniffling into his jacket.

"It's not your fault. You're not the one who died, after all," he replied. He had to admit, to himself at least, that he was embarrassed. He'd never wanted her to know how bad it had become for him.

"I... just wish..."

"I know, you never want me to suffer, any more than I ever want you to," he told her and then kissed her lightly. "That's not a very realistic wish, from either of us."

"I know that, but I really hate being the cause of your pain," she mumbled, her face still pressed against him as she held onto him, her arms wrapped around him with a fierce protectiveness.

"You have always been capable of hurting me more than anyone else alive," Guinn told her softly, tilting her head up to make her look at him. "You also bring me more joy than anyone else alive. Everything I have gone through is worth it, if I can hold you now."

Susan sniffled, her nose red and face blotchy from tears and he still thought she was more beautiful than anything he'd ever seen before. She smiled tentatively and he leaned down to kiss her, letting himself forget about everything else in the universe for the duration of that moment.

"It is worth it," she told him, "But, we need to talk about this." She looked at the box in his hand and he winced.

"I.. I'll leave it here, if you'd prefer." It ripped at his hearts to say that, but he'd do it for her, if she asked him to.

"No!" she told him, her eyes wide with her dismay. "No, of course not!" she insisted and he let his breath out in relief. "I wouldn't ask you to do that. You should put her in your rooms, so you can visit her whenever you want to."

He looked at her and was amazed again by the kindness in her. She was constantly trying to make him happy and he didn't always know if he deserved it or not.

"I... thank you, Susan," he replied, nearly speechless. "I'll do that."

"Can I ask you something though?"

"Yes?"

"If you had her there to talk to, how could you not know that I loved and trusted you utterly?" she asked.

"Because I never asked," he admitted.

"What? Why not?"

"Because I was scared of the answer. I was certain that you'd died hating me, so I blocked the memory of her madness and death and left her not knowing about it." She was looking at him with so much sorrow and compassion that he was nearly undone by it.

"Oh my darling man," she sighed out and kissed him gently and sweetly. "The answer will always be the same. I love you with everything in me."

He clung to her, his face screwed up against the overwhelming feelings she was invoking in him and he just held her for a long time, with no words to say what it meant to him. She held him back, seemingly needing nothing from him just then, but his arms around her.

He breathed out and something tight in his chest loosened a bit. For the first time in a long time he was happy, simply happy, without guilt, regret, or pain. It wouldn't last, he knew that, but it was all the more precious because of its fleeting nature.

He was healing.

* * *

"I can't believe I said that," Diana complained to Leela, kicking at a section of flooring in a discouraged away. "It's like my brain disengages from my mouth."

"Yes, it is," Leela replied, but her tone was kind. "How much time have you spent around real people?"

"I was out of my Loop for more than a month! Er… well, I mean the first time, before I went back in and was gone a couple of years. I got back-back the day before yesterday."

"So, outside of combat situations, you have had a month and a few days of actual social training," Leela pointed out. "It took me years before I stopped drawing a knife on people in public."

"I suppose that is a point," she mumbled. "I just… it's all so complicated outside of the Loops. I mean, it's better, but it is just so much bigger! I like it better outside, but it was easier in some ways when the entire world was just point-and-shoot. Poor Guinn. I'll have to make it up to him or something. Susan bakes him things, but that's not really my style and poor Susan for that matter."

"Yes, poor Susan." Leela winced. "I've not made it any easier on her either."

"We've been a bit thick," Andred sighed as well. "We've been so sure that it was another elaborate plot of his that we ignored the possibility that he might actually be telling the truth."

Diana thought about that for a while.

"I always thought he was telling the truth. I mean, it's just… the way he was. But you didn't know him then. He was all, like… hollow, I guess."

"No, we only knew the nutter in black velvet, with the goatee and the crazy schemes," Andred replied.

'Thankfully, we never had to deal with the black velvet. That might have pushed us all over the edge," snarked Diana.

"I can understand that," Leela agreed.

"So, are you looking forward to rescuing the other Time Lords?" Andred asked.

"Yes, I am," Di beamed. "I told the Doctor we needed to bring along the lucky sandgun! He'll never question it again."

"Don't count on that. He made me get rid of all my Janus thorns," she complained.

Diana looked horrified.

"We are not getting rid of the lucky sandgun! Lucky sandgun is lucky!"

They looked at each other and then at her and solemnly shook their heads.

* * *

Tomoko stumbled and realized that she was already at the end of the Viewing Ring, which wasn't perfectly circular, and she scowled at herself. She must have been daydreaming; she had walked right past the corridor down which the TARDIS was parked. Stupid girl!

She was always tired whenever she had had a heat flash, but this afternoon it had seemed especially exhausting. She promised herself a nap as soon as they returned to Gallifrey. Then, perhaps, she would try to make some sort of apology to poor Guinn. She felt terrible for intruding so badly into matters that were clearly very private for him.

She entered the TARDIS, and headed to her storeroom. She had meant to take some sort of room for herself, but she hadn't gotten around to it.

She had set it up next to the cooling chamber, as much of her equipment was susceptible to freezing. It contained a cot, a workbench, and a lot of scattered computer equipment.

She tossed the bag onto the cot, following it by the pair of bio-samplers in her pocket, then took a moment in front of the mirror to scrub her face with a washcloth, and comb her scorched and flyaway hair.

Apart from the hair, which truly had not appreciated the heat flash, she saw nothing unusual in her reflection: the same dark hair, the same acid-green eyes. She didn't feel the same, but that was surely due to being over-tired. She did feel better after quickly changing into a set of un-scorched clothes.

The others had to have finished their analysis by now. She picked up her bio-samplers and put them back in her pocket, then left the room, closed the door, and headed back out to see what they had found.

* * *

"Right, so, if we carry the integer, what do we get?" Farian was asking Adie with a pleased smile on his face.

"34678.894?" Adie replied looking rather uncertain, but Farian smiled even more and nodded.

"Yes! Excellent work," he praised her.

"34678.89474288819, actually," Tomoko rattled off absently and Adie flushed.

"Yes, uh, thank you," Farian said.

"Which puts it on a… curve?" Tomoko's brows furrowed and she turned to him.

"Yes, we were working out the proper coordinates for the second Grace Point," he explained.

"No, wait, go back. Why do we have a curve? You just said it wasn't a loop."

"It's not a Loop, it's a bubble universe," Guinn explained as he came in. "I figured out how to generate them, but Rassilon's version is far inferior to my later work on the subject." He frowned at the computer screen with all the Bubbles still displayed on it. "Very sloppy. Not like him at all."

"No, I don't think so," mumbled the Doctor absently. "I don't think it's sloppy. I think it's something that was deliberately done….. I think." His fingers moved over the screen of his tablet, plotting and discarding equations.

"You think he made them deliberately to fall apart over time?" Guinn asked and Koschei frowned.

"Well, if he made them as weapons, that would make sense, they could be dropped near an enemy planet and popped, releasing all the entropy and destroying that world," he rattled off, his hands fluttering over the keyboard as he worked out the maths.

"Whether their fragility is deliberate or not is actually a moot question just now, the real issue is why? Why did he build them and why did he build them here, near the Lens assembly?" Koschei asked.

"Well, he had to build them near the Lens assembly," muttered Tomoko absentmindedly as she returned to her mathematical screen. "He was using the Phased Artron Array for both projects." One hand waved vaguely towards the hallway that led to the Array, her eyes still on the screen.

"Yes," Farian replied, looking at her in surprise. "I suppose he must have, no other energy source would have been able to cross multiple dimensions."

"Yes, but I could create a bubble in any point in the universe, it's just a matter of mathematics and electron substitution," Guinn reminded them.

"True, so why have something so unstable and dangerous right next to Gallifrey?" the Doctor asked, with a fiercely unhappy expression. "Where did you hear about the Phased Artron Array, Tomoko?"

"Oh, I probably ran across it when I was duplicating the data core," Tomoko said distractedly.

"Yes, that must be it," the Doctor agreed.

"Huh. Maybe we should work on this on the way to pick up those people?" Tomoko frowned at her screen, then turned to the Doctor, looking at him with her typical keen gaze.

"Sounds like a plan!" he told her with bright enthusiasm, clapping his hands together in excitement. "More Time Lords!"

"The more the merrier," Tomoko said. She had gotten herself another earpiece while visiting the TARDIS, and now she clicked it on. "Di! Tell Leela we're packing it in, we're going to pick up the stasis tubes, then head for home."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 - The Trouble with Entropy

The Doctor leaned over the console with a frown on his face, as Guinn set the coordinates. Diana, Leela, and Andred, headed back into the residential areas to shower and change, since they were filthy from exploring the disused station.

Koschei stood, with his arms around Susan, while Rose sat down in one of the green wing chairs with a notepad, working out the maths for the bubbles. Farian was standing by Rose, watching over her shoulder in fascination, while Adie sat in the other chair, feet tucked under her and smiling up at the Artron engineer.

"How exactly did you manage to hack my security, by the way?" Guinn asked Farian and the Doctor looked up, also rather curious.

"Well, actually," Farian looked at his feet, then the ceiling, and then at the walls. "We just sort of used Adie."

"You never used me," Adie countered. "You asked me. There's a difference."

"We asked you, yes, to do things that we couldn't do. However, we asked you to do things that put you in jeopardy and that really wasn't very... noble of us," Farian sighed.

"Those things needed to be done and I was glad to do them for you," she told him with a shake of her head.

"Yes, but we also asked you to go distract Rassilon while we sneaked people away and I am deeply ashamed of that," Farian said with a sigh. The Doctor stayed silent, it wasn't as though he didn't have plenty to be ashamed of himself.

"Those people lived and it wasn't like Rassilon was suddenly going to give up his hair-stroking obsession," she pointed out and he winced, looking very unhappy.

"He's right," Guinn replied. "They used you to save themselves. You might not care about that, but it was still wrong, and he's quite right to be ashamed about it."

"Still, we understand how desperate you were," the Doctor added and gave Farian a look of sorrowful compassion. "We're not going to drop you into a black hole for trying to survive."

"Quite right we're not," Adie had crossed her arms and was now scowling fiercely at them all, which the Doctor thought was rather cute.

"It's the punishment I deserve for violating the Articles," Farian told her and Tomoko raised a hand.

"I would like to state for the record that I decline to press charges," Tomoko chimed in and the Doctor nodded. It was always easier to be on the side of leniency when the victims of the crime agreed with you. Although, anything less like a victim than the Mashas was hard to imagine.

"It's not exactly up to you," Farian replied. "The law is the law." He was finding a certain amount of respect for Farian. The man was well aware of his crimes and was not trying to evade responsibility at all.

"Well, that depends in which universe you are in," he pointed out. "Technically speaking, even if the statute of limitations hadn't run out, which it has, you can't be prosecuted in one universe for a crime you committed in another." The Doctor looked up at Farian and smiled at the skinny, older engineer, with his scarecrow hair and mismatched socks. "So, no executions today, if you don't mind overly much?"

"I'm fine with that, actually," Farian said softly.

"As am I," Tomoko said.

"Much better than smuggling Papa off of Gallifrey and living the life of a fugitive with him," Adie pointed out.

"Uh... yes," Guinn replied, giving her a funny look."Papa?"

Adie's chin went up.

"Farian adopted me when I was transferred to the station," she said.

"Not in any legal sense, of course," Farian admitted. "But for all intents and purposes, yes."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at that, suddenly seeing what Guinn was so riled about. For all that Farian was a decent person, who obviously cared about Adie, the things he'd done to survive were questionable at best and to claim Adyra as his daughter, while still engaging in such acts was rather reprehensible.

He glanced at Koschei, who gave him a look of uneasy understanding. After all, which of them hadn't done something terrible in order to save lives, or save themselves? They were hardly in a position to judge Farian.

* * *

Gaige settled into the chair and gave Captain Rammall a long look.

"They're moving on the capital? Why?" he asked and Rammall shrugged eloquently.

"They are desert nomads and they spend far too much time watching the heat rise off of the sands," Rammall replied.

"It's been eighty-seven years since the last time they tried to take the capital and they were very roughly handled," Gaige reminded him and Rammall snorted a laugh at that. "So, why try it again? What do they think has changed to make it a good idea?"

"Why, what interesting questions!" Rammall teased. "Perhaps we should send a scout out and have him discover their reasons! Wait, it just so happens I know where to find one!"

Gaige sighed and shook his head.

"Serves me right for asking," he admitted and Rammall laughed, throwing his head back, the thick black curly hair of his beard now threaded with silver. It was the hardest part of being stranded here, on this world, watching the people around him age and then die.

"So, we are transferring to Fal-Hammdit tomorrow," Rammall told him and Gaige nodded his understanding. "We'll be close enough to the Nomads to smell their camels and you can do your magic jinn act for all the impressionable new recruits."

Gaige chuckled at that.

"Well, it's just so much fun!" he replied. "After all, most of them actually believe it!"

Both men laughed at that and then Gaige rose and saluted, before heading out the door. Captain Rammall might be a dear friend, but he was also a superior officer and Gaige made sure to always be respectful.

After a hundred years trapped on Azari Bal, he had learned a deep respect for his human friends and their ability to survive in so harsh an environment.

* * *

"Look," Adie said, "I wasn't real… together… when I got there. To the station, I mean." She stammered to a halt, biting her lip nervously. "I spent a lot of time with him. He made sure I was okay. He helped me… put pieces back together." She wasn't sure how to explain how important Farian had been to her, but he must have understood, because he gave her a gentle smile.

Guinn grumbled and shook his head.

"At least I never threw you at Rassilon." His sharp words made Farian flush and look down.

"But you were never there," Adie pointed out. "That wasn't your fault. You were with Susan. When she died… you were still with her," she said simply. It wasn't as though she didn't understand. Ever since she'd felt the connection to her bond-mate and then lost it, she'd understood quite clearly what he'd been suffering.

"Adyra, Rassilon was getting ready to rape you, you do understand that, don't you? He was going to rip your mind apart and take your body!" Guinn shouted and his rage was frightening, but it also told her that he cared, which she hadn't guessed before. "I never sent you to him! I never put you in his way! He was willing to risk you ending up like Susan!"

"I wouldn't have let him..." Farian began, but Guinn turned on him, face filled with bitter anger.

"Wouldn't have let him what? Let him destroy her? How the hell did you think you could stop him?" Guinn asked and Farian shook his head mutely. "Let's save the other brave men and women that were willing to sacrifice a child to Rassilon." Adie was angry at how unfair he was being to Farian.

"To save all of the other children," Farian sighed. "I'm not proud of it, but it saved a lot of lives."

"That is enough!" Adie had never spoken sharply before, but her anger was overcoming her natural reticence. "Yes, I knew he was going to rape me," she snapped. After all, that had been patently obvious to anyone with eyes. "What, precisely, was your plan, Guinn? What was anybody on that station going to do, the day he made up his mind? Nothing! Because it was Rassilon, and he could do anything he damn well pleased, and no one was going to stop him."

"I was going to kill you first," Guinn told her. "I had an aspirin shot ready for you."

Adie went still, staring at him. That he had thought it through, that he had seen what was happening, even through all his own misery and pain, was a revelation to her. All the cold, cutting remarks, the way he'd kept her at arm's length, it all made sense to her finally. He was expecting all along that he was going to have to kill her one day. Every exchange that they had ever had needed to be re-evaluated in light of that knowledge. She closed her mouth and tried to formulate a response.

"Well, I… that was very kind of you. Thank you for that, but is it so bad that I chose to use my time to try and help someone that I loved?" She was asking it seriously, trying to understand why he was so upset over something that hadn't seemed very terrible to her.

"You're welcome and no, it wasn't bad to want to help," he sighed out, his anger deflating to be replaced by a profound sadness. "It was bad that they asked you to do things that put your mind in closer proximity to the man who was manipulating your thoughts."

"But they asked me, Guinn. That's the point. I could always have said no," she informed him and he laughed a trifle bitterly and shook his head.

"Really? You were starved for love and affection and he waltzed in and smothered you in it. You'd have walked through fire for him and he knew it," Guinn replied, his voice very quiet and his eyes on Farian were assessing.

"Yes, that is the way things were," Adie admitted and she could see some of his point, even if she still disagreed strongly. "We did the best we could with what we had. He asked me and I did it. Susan would have done the same for the Doctor, and for the same reasons."

"She's right," Susan sighed out and the Doctor winced. "I did do something rather like it, in fact. Which, Adie, is why Guinn is so very upset about it. You and Farian were echoing what happened to me and he's just a bit ... sensitive about that." Guinn frowned at her and then looked down at the console and Adie nodded, seeing it all clearly now. Of course, in the context of what had happened to the other Susan, what Adie had been going through had to be a painful reminder of his own failings to him.

"Well, for the record, Farian didn't do anything wrong," she told him gently, trying to make Guinn see that he hadn't done anything wrong either.

"I did, actually," Farian rebutted, looking at her with a gentle, serious expression. "I didn't like having to do it and I really was trying to dance over an abyss. I was trying to keep you safe and also trying to save everyone else's lives. It wasn't as though there were any good choices, only choices that were less horrible than the others," he explained and then hugged her. "I'm sorry for risking you, but I didn't know what else to do. I do love you so much, child."

"It was my risk to take, Papa," insisted Adie. "It was always my choice and I am not ashamed of the choices I made. I love you too."

"Well, this is very nice," the Doctor said into the silence after the emotional outbursts. "Shall we have tea and then go see Guinn's 'bolt-hole'?" he suggested.

"Tea would be very nice," Adie admitted rather shakily. She wasn't accustomed to being so forceful with her friends and had found the experience rather unnerving.

* * *

Susan grabbed Guinn and Koschei's hands and dragged them after her towards the kitchen, her rather pointed looks keeping them both silent as they left. Rose suspected that Guinn was about to be faced with the delicate wrath of his ginger spouse, who looked as though she had some choice words for him. She did not envy him at all there.

Rose tucked a lock of bleached blonde hair behind her hair and looked over the calculations again, Malla murmuring her own analysis in the back of her head. When she finally had a set of equations solved to both of their satisfaction, she looked at it again and grimaced.

"Looks like Susan will be getting us some tea," Rose told them and then took a breath as she began choosing her words. "So, I've been doing some maths" she told them. "I think the entropy levels in those bubbles are going to be a problem rather quickly."

"How much of a problem?" the Doctor asked and she looked up at him, grateful for how quickly he grasped the essentials.

"Well, we calculate that they are going to start collapsing soon and their destruction will release rather large waves of entropy that could end up destroying vast chunks of this galaxy," Rose told them, not liking the numbers one bit. "Gallifrey is one of the planets in the way of a possible discharge," Rose added. "We need to do something about that straight off."

"How soon, do you think?" Adie asked, looking frightened.

"Well, there are over a dozen of them and they are all in different states of decay. They could start popping off at any time now, really. The worst off ones could go between a few days to a week from now, while the more stable ones could last a few years. That's if our calculations are correct, but neither Malla nor I have never worked with some of the parameters here before, so we could be off," she replied, growing more worried as she thought it through.

"Right. What we really need is some block transfer mathematicians," the Doctor pointed out and Farian nodded at him.

"Yes, we really do, don't we?" he murmured. "I wonder if we saved any?"

"Speaking of saving, let's start with tea, shall we?" Rose suggested. Susan had been known to frown fiercely at those who scorned her tea and Rose preferred to remain on her good side.

"Let's go, before Susan gets cranky," the Doctor suggested and turned to look at Tomoko, who was standing by the console, staring absently off into space. "Tomoko?" he called and she jerked back into awareness.

"Sorry, drifted off. That flare-up took it out of me," she told him, rubbed the bridge of her nose wearily, and headed in the direction indicated.

* * *

They all stepped into the kitchen and found that Leela, Andred, and Diana, with a mug of hot cocoa in her hand and a blissful expression, were already seated. Leela was drinking coffee and Andred was sipping at his tea with a look of pleased relief.

The Doctor sat down next to Diana at the long wooden table and leaned back into the comfy ladder-back chair, admiring the chintz prints and heavy wooden beams above him. He always thought that this kitchen reminded him of a fairy tale by the Grimm brothers and it made him smile. Rose settled beside him, looping an arm through his, and Adie and Farian sat across from them.

Farian looked rather uncomfortable, the Doctor noted, but then he always had really. Most of his memories of the man had been of him stumbling about, as he expounded his brilliant theories. In many ways he was the epitome of the absent-minded professor; kind, gentle, brilliant, but apt to dip his sleeve in the butter.

Guinn set a tray of sandwiches down for them all. He looked at Farian and Adie and then glanced over to where Susan was watching him sternly. The Doctor was quite familiar with that particular expression and felt a spurt of sympathy for the other man. Rose grinned at him and lay her head on his shoulder and the Doctor found himself relaxing a bit.

"I'm sorry. I was out of line," Guinn apologized to Adie.

"You don't owe me an apology," she replied, though she looked at Farian.

"You were displaying concern for someone you care about," Farian replied. "It was actually rather refreshing." Guinn paused and stared at Farian and then nodded rather abruptly and withdrew to help Susan pile up cookies on a plate.

"Bit of a change, I take it?" the Doctor asked gently. He was fishing for information, but was completely unashamed. Susan was shockingly close-mouthed about the Koscheis and what they went through.

"Oh rather, yes. He's alive again. That's quite different," Farian murmured, looking over at Guinn and the Doctor felt a pang of sorrow at the description.

"Losing Susan was pretty awful for him," Rose sighed and nodded. The Doctor tried to think about what it would feel like to loose Rose now and his mind shied away from the possibility. He couldn't imagine Koschei surviving even a few hours beyond Susan at this point and he remembered what he had been like on the Valiant, driven mad by the High Council and then rent asunder by losing Susan, he'd been savage.

That Guinn had been merely dead and icy was actually a bit surprising to him. He eyed Guinn and wondered if it was the Matrix version of Susan that had kept him even partially sane.

"Hey," Diana said to Guinn, "I'm sorry. To both of you, about the whole Secret Susan thing," she apologized, as though she'd been following the Doctor's thoughts.

To her great surprise, Guinn pulled her into a hug.

"You did nothing wrong. You are honest and forthright and perfectly delightful," he assured her and then released her quickly and returned to putting cookies on plates.

"Um… thanks," Diana blushed, not sure what to say and the Doctor hid his smile behind a cookie, trying not to let Guinn see his amusement.

"Papa, how many people were placed in cryo? How were these tubes hidden? What security should we expect?" Adie hadn't taken any cookies, but seemed very glad of tea.

"Adie dear, I will be happy to tell you everything, but first… I'm sorry, but... what happened to you?" he asked gently and the rest of them all winced or looked away. The Doctor became suddenly very absorbed in his tea, trying not to make Adie feel anymore self-conscious than she already must.

Adie looked down at her teacup and didn't reply at once.

"It was… Rassilon's doing," she finally told him. "The reason he wanted the Lens in the first place."

"Firing the Lens did that?" he asked in dismay, pointing at the hole in her energy.

"Yes, Rassilon thought that he could control the Arkytior through me."

"Which blew a hole right through you?" he asked, looking horrified and upset. "Oh, my dear girl!"

"Yes, I know," she said awkwardly. "It's… it… looks worse than it is." This was a lie, but she wanted to try and comfort him somehow and the Doctor understood completely.

"So, Farian, tell me about the hidden Time Lords," the Doctor interrupted with a pointed look and Farian opened his mouth and then closed it again. He smiled a bit, patted Adie's hand and resumed the conversation, to everyone's relief.

"Well, there were about thirty-eight of us hidden there when I volunteered to be put in cryo on the Command Centre. We were worried that the links to the Bolt hole might be discovered, so I stayed behind, rigged to a series of alarms to waken me if anything... untoward happened," he told them with a shrug.

"I could see how those alarms might have gone off a couple of days ago," Diana said, speaking perfectly clearly, in spite of the fact that her mouth was full of cookie.

"Yes indeed," Farian chuckled. "They all went a bit wild. I woke up and had to run about for a while, until I figured out what was wrong, but then, of course, I was stuck. We'd never imagined a scenario where there wasn't even a single TARDIS on station."

"Were there any parked in this bolt hole of yours?" Tomoko asked Guinn.

"No, only the Master's ...uh... Guinn's TARDIS ever went there, you see. It was how we found out about it actually. Adie mentioned the extra maintenance she was doing on it and we realized that he had to be going somewhere for long periods of time. Some place he hadn't told anyone about. So, we sneaked in and checked the logs and found reference to the bolt hole. After that we just had to watch carefully until we figured it all out," Farian explained.

"So you just keep checking the odometer?" Rose asked with a grin and he nodded.

"Essentially, yes. Once we'd figured it out, we... um... stowed away on his TARDIS and just walked onto his station to set things up." Farian looked sheepish.

"Ohhhh," Adie snarked, "So it seems that cheating is a common phenomenon," she shot a sideways glance at Koschei.

"How did I ...oh, I see." Guinn looked at Farian. "You knew how much I was falling apart and used my lack of awareness to get around me."

"Uh... yes," Farian replied with a small uncomfortable smile. "You were not exactly at the top of your game."

"No, I wasn't." Guinn took another cookie and bit into it and Susan leaned against him, while Koschei put a hand on his shoulder from the other side.

"So, you waited for days when he was moping and just sneaked around behind him. Brilliant!" the Doctor told him, enjoying the thought of a bunch of doctors and engineers tiptoeing about, taking the Master's emotional temperature and planning accordingly.

"Is it this far?" Worried Adie. "Oughtn't we to be there by now?"

'Are you asking if we're there yet?" snarked Tomoko.

Adie flushed at the comment.

"We're already in the correct space, but I have to input the security codes," Guinn told her. "We can't materialize, until I give the correct answers to certain questions."

"What sorts of questions?" Adie asked curiously. "And for that matter, who asks them?" She looked at Susan with a sort of curiosity.

"The computer will query me with several random questions that only I can answer," Guinn replied.

"What did you use for voice-matching?" Tomoko asked with a tilt of her head. "Or did you set up an epsilon-wave synchronization system?" The Doctor looked at her in curiosity, she was surprisingly knowledgeable and he appreciated that.

"Neither, I simply made it that only the sync pattern of my speech, matched with my personal bio-data and my delta-patterns could even activate the query, then arranged for a ten part set of security protocols, with different keys at each level," he replied with a shrug.

"Bit paranoid, don't you think?" the Doctor asked in surprise.

"I was trying to lock out Rassilon," Guinn reminded him and the Doctor thought for a moment.

"Not paranoid enough I think," he corrected himself.

"Well, I was slightly ... off," Guinn admitted.

"So did you have defences and things against him?" Tomoko enquired, "or was that not possible with a being like Rassilon?"

"Of course I had defences," Guinn replied. "He wasn't a being, he was a Time Lord, he started out just like us. Just because he had the secret of perpetual regeneration, didn't make him more than just an arse who'd lived longer than he ought to have."

"Huh. Everyone just sounds so scared of him when they talk about him," Tomoko commented and the Doctor grimaced. It was true, they did talk about him like he was the monster under the bed.

"That's because he was insane and had complete control over our entire society," Farian sighed. "People had revered and respected him for so long, that they never bothered to question him. They just obeyed. Everyone was so scared of the Daleks, that they'd have done anything for him, because they thought he could save them." He shook his head. "Stupid sheep," he said, his voice sad and filled with a sort of compassionate regret.

"He was brilliant though," the Doctor pointed out, trying to be even handed, despite his personal loathing for the man.. "For all that he was a complete nutter, he was one of the greatest minds our race ever produced. He created all sorts of incredible things and had he been sane, probably could have found a way to defeat the Daleks."

"He was just so lost in his own arrogance that he had gotten lazy," Koschei put in. "He thought he was so clever that he could just wave a hand and make things work. He stopped thinking things through all the way, because he thought he knew the answers already. That said, he was also an incredibly strong telepath and he could squash your brain without half trying."

"Glad I never met him," Rose muttered.

"Same here," Diana said enthusiastically.

"You missed out on nothing, really," the Doctor assured them. "Well, maybe a great deal of aggravation and screaming, but not much else."

"I am sorry to say that none of us appear to have missed out on aggravation and screaming," Tomoko pointed out.

"Well, I did my best to fill in the gaps for you," Guinn dead-panned. "Would have hated for you to get bored."

"Oh no, we were never bored," Tomoko snarked.

"Good, I was really quite concerned about that," Guinn told her with a perfectly straight face. Susan, however, ruined it by giggling and then Diana giggled too and even Tomoko cracked a smile.

"So, can we get on with it then?" Koschei nudged and Guinn looked at him. "Forty questions time!"

"Oh yes, I'll go take care of that, you all enjoy your tea and cookies." Guinn got up and left, headed for the console room.

"Aw, I was curious to know what the questions and answers were," said Tomoko.

"Yes, but then I claim all the peanut butter cookies," Diana pointed out.

"I suspect that the questions and answers are personal and private," Rose murmured looking at Diana with a thoughtful air.

"I think we've done enough to him today, wouldn't you say?" the Doctor pointed out, still feeling rather bad about earlier.

"Yes, agreed. Thoughtless of me. I apologize," Tomoko muttered with a blush.

"Yes. Which means I am definitely claiming the last peanut butter cookie," Diana said, but Susan snatched the cookie, before Diana could get it, and popped it into her mouth.

"What peanut butter cookie?" she asked with wide innocent eyes and Diana giggled madly.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 - The Bolt Hole

Guinn input the correct data and the screen came up.

"What colour was her hair the first time you saw her?" it asked and he input the answer.

"Chocolate and so soft it was like feathers." The questions continued and he answered them, nervous, in case anyone walked in and saw him at it. The questions were so personal, so private, and he'd already had Diana parade his agony in front of everyone. He didn't blame her, she couldn't have known, but it still made him uneasy.

The last question flashed onto the screen.

"How did she die?" it scrolled across the screen and his fingers slowed, as he typed in the response.

"I killed her, with a dose of aspirin in a saline solution. I held her as she died and when she did, I died too." Tears were falling down his face, as he finished and he choked back a sob. He'd lost her and even though he'd found her again, it changed nothing. He still grieved for what he'd had to do and probably always would.

He took a breath and scrubbed his face with his hands, trying to banish the physical manifestations of his pain.

When he felt that he had himself back under control again, he materialized the TARDIS on to his private space station and tried not to think about the strangers who'd used it to save themselves. He'd put too much of himself into this place to feel comfortable about it.

However, they'd been desperate and that was partly his fault. He owed them all.

He opened a channel to the rest of the ship.

"We've arrived. I'm going to disembark and undo the rest of the security, you can come out in about ten... no, fifteen minutes," he told them and then opened the door.

Before Susan saw the station, he had to clear away a few things. He carried the black box with Susan's ghost with him into the bolt hole, feeling as though his every nerve was being exposed and wanting desperately to have just a bit of privacy.

* * *

"Hey," Diana frowned at Tomoko, who was again rubbing her eyes wearily, "Are you feeling all right?"

"Meh," Tomoko scowled. "I almost flamed myself out like an idiot, I'm hungover as hell. Once we get back and the dust settles, I'm going to crash. Until then… well, I have to admit that peanut butter cookies seem to go a long way towards proper medicinal purposes," she winked at Susan.

"Here, I took some pictures," Adie was saying to Farian, showing him her tablet. "This is the Line House, and this is the Library… that's Taydin, he's the librarian…"

"Scout Commander Taydin... is a Librarian?" Farian gasped. "The man is a legend! He's the greatest Singer in history! He Sang a Dalek battlefleet to its destruction! He's... a Librarian?"

"Well," Adie blushed, "He can't Sing anymore, and he had to get some sort of job, I suppose, and he likes reading… I think he likes the library."

"He can't Sing?" Farian asked sadly. "That's horrible."

Adie took her tablet back and looked at the picture.

"It was the last thing he ever Sang," she said, "The Dalek battle fleet, I mean. He was injured doing it, or at least that is what Dar said. I felt really bad for him at first, but after meeting him in person, then I was okay again. He's okay, too, I think. He seems to have adjusted well."

"I see," Farian nodded. "He's an extraordinarily brave man."

"He is," agreed Adie. "I don't think I could ever be that brave if something like that happened to me," she said, without a hint of irony.

"It's now safe to disembark," Guinn's voice informed them and they all rose from the table.

"Let's go," Farian told them with an eager expression and they all filled out.

Susan looked around and nearly gasped aloud, but managed to keep her face serene as they stepped onto the station.

It looked rather like the house on Gumphas and she was pretty sure that it wasn't accidental. She turned and looked at the door ahead of them, wondering if he had hoped that she would walk through it again someday.

Koschei took her hand and squeezed it gently, his own face equally expressionless.

"Good God," Rose muttered. "Louis the XVI done in Late Goth." She wrinkled her nose and Susan resisted the urge to defend the architecture. She had very pleasant memories of this house.

"This place is way over the top though," Leela agreed and Andred made a face of agreement.

"A wonder if there is a pool here too?" Leela asked and Susan shrugged. She'd not ever really left the bedroom of the original, so she didn't know.

"Dunno. How large is this place?" wondered Tomoko, following the others, but looking around with sharply bright eyes.

"Quite large I think. This way," Farian told them and headed down the hallway to a door.

They all stepped forwards off of the landing area and a tolling bell began to ring.

"What's that noise?" asked Adie and Tomoko scowled.

"Didn't Guinn just say he was disabling all of the alarms?" She looked at Farian. "Did you add any additional layers of security of which Guinn was not aware?"

Diana held her duffel bag a little bit more tightly. Leela and Andred looked around in alarm, while Rose peered at some paintings on the wall in seeming unconcern.

"No," Farian replied with a shake of his head.

"What is going on here?" Guinn asked as he hurried into the room. "What did you lot touch?"

"We didn't do anything!" Susan assured him. "We were all just standing here talking. The minute we moved forward though, the alarm went off."

"It's probably too many people," the Doctor suggested. "How about Adie, Tomoko, and Diana go back to the TARDIS. Farian can show us where the cryo tubes are and we can float them in there without any more problems!" He smiled benignly at them all.

"Doctor? Are you certain?" Adie looked a bit doubtful.

"Absolutely!" he assured her and chivvied the girls back into the TARDIS. As soon as they were gone, the alarms ceased.

* * *

"Was it the Mashas?" Susan asked. "Because they weren't Time Lords?"

"Possibly," Guinn told her, his face unreadable. "I'd thought I'd turned that one off, but I could have been mistaken."

"Never mind," the Doctor waved it off. "Not important, let's save the Time Lords and get home. We have to start working on those Bubbles, after all," he reminded them and they all nodded, thought Susan had a niggling feeling that he was hiding something from her.

Farian led them down a hallway to the kitchens and then to a rug, which he pulled up, to reveal a trap door in the floor.

"You put them in the maintenance bay?" Guinn asked in surprise.

"Well, we had to hook them up to a power source, since we didn't know how long they would be in there for," he explained and Guinn nodded.

"I always brought them straight here," Farian told Guinn and they exchanged a look that Susan couldn't quite decipher. She suspected that there was a shrine to her dead alternate self around here somewhere and found that she really did not want to know anything more. She already felt horrible for everything he'd gone through, seeing the full depths of his insanity wasn't something she quite felt up to.

They pulled open the hatch and then pressed a knob, which set the whole section of floor into motion. It was a lift that descended into the underworld of the station and stopped at the bottom, where there were computer towers, and panels for environmental balancing and the field generators that maintained the station's position.

Farian went to a wall, swung it open, and Guinn frowned.

"That was not a structurally sound choice," he pointed out and Farian turned and grinned at him.

"No, but you would never have looked here, would you?" he replied and Guinn barked a laugh.

"Never, because I would have thought you all too smart to do it!" he agreed. Susan chuckled and twined her fingers with Guinn's leaning against him, trying to give him a bit of support.

On the other side of the door was a large room stacked high with cryo-tubes, glowing softly blue in the darkness. The room was larger than she'd realized and there were several rows of the blunt-ended tubes visible in the light from the door and, in the shadows beyond, they glowed eerily growing dimmer with distance. There were so many lights that Susan felt as though she could barely breathe.

"Oh... my," the Doctor murmured. "That's a lot more than thirty!"

"Yes," Farian agreed. "They must have kept on after I was asleep." His voice was hushed and Susan felt it too, there must be more than a hundred of them. That was more than she had expected, it was more than she had dared dream of.

There was a long moment of reverent awe, as they looked around at all the people lying asleep in their tubes. Time Lords, adult Time Lords most of them, by the sizes of the tubes.

"It's amazing," Rose breathed out and then they shook themselves and started moving, lifting the tubes and stacking them on the lift.

"Right, let's get them to the TARDIS," Susan told them. "Even with the best cryo systems, extended stasis can lead to cellular damage and some of them have been asleep a rather long time. I want to wake them in my medi-bay, just in case."

They nodded and got to work.

* * *

"There they are," Adie told Diana. "See, I told you."

"Tomoko? You done hacking into the system here?" Diana snarked at her sister, who was typing like a fiend. "They'll be here any minute."

"I put them four minutes out. I'm really going to have to book to finish this."

Tomoko's fingers were flying so fast across the keys it was almost painful to look at. She moved faster and faster, seeming to grow increasingly nervous about the proximity of the return party.

"Aaaaaaand done!" Tomoko disconnected the cable and snapped the tablet closed, then darted out, snatched the remote box that Adie had attached to the exterior console, and darted back in and rocketed past them into the interior of the ship, the cable swinging madly in her wake, before it vanished down the hallway.

"What was all that about?" asked Adie.

"Tomoko has this computer-data-collection-hobby… thing," Diana sighed. "It's like a computer port winks seductively at her and she cannot resist!"

Adie was still laughing at that description, when Guinn began floating the first of the tubes back into the TARDIS. Tomoko was back in the console room like nothing had ever happened.

"I've got medi-bay prepped," she told them, "I also prepped some of the secondary rooms, I don't think that thirty-eight tubes are going to fit into medi-bay proper… We should be able to place them safely until Susan can get at them, though."

"We found a lot more than thirty-eight, but the Medi-bay expands Tomoko," Guinn told her absently. "The connecting walls can retract."

"Right," Tomoko headed back to find the button.

It took three trips to get all the tubes aboard.

* * *

"There are so many," Adie said to Susan as they expanded the walls again, her eyes round as she looked at them all.

"Yes! Professor Boma is here too!" she told her, nearly bouncing with excitement that her old mentor was amongst the survivors. "I'm not the only geneticist anymore! He's a brilliant teacher too! So much knowledge and experience, I am utterly thrilled!" Susan was dancing a bit, as she prepped a table and began the sequence to open up a tube with an elegant looking, older man in it. He had a neatly trimmed beard and bushy eyebrows and smile lines in the corner of his eyes.

"This is just like Christmas!" the Doctor told them, rubbing his hands together and they all grinned back at him.

They were all crowded into the medi-bay, wandering amongst the tubes, peering in, the Doctor, Andred, Leela, and Farian, all excitedly exclaiming over people they recognized.

"Papa said there were other geneticists that had been saved," mused Adie. "Oh, I wonder if they were running out of tubes at the end? Look, this one has a couple inside of it. They must be married, they are wearing matching rings. They look like they are sleeping." She moved from tube to tube, telling Susan about the people she saw inside of them.

"They are sleeping. That was dangerous though, they could have both died if they overloaded the tube," she said with a gentle smile at them.

"They must not have wanted to risk one of them dying, and the other surviving," mused Adie.

"I understand," Susan replied, still working at the Professor's tube. A light flashed and went from Mauve to White and she nodded, her smile growing. "No cryo damage that I can see."

"Susan, if you will teach me how to check for cryo damage, I can do a diagnostic on each of these tubes, and make sure the occupants are all right."

"Not to worry, Adie, it's designed to be operated by layman," she told her. "Hit the mauve button twice and if it flashes white, its fine, if it goes a deeper shade of mauve, there is damage."

"That won't open the tubes early?"

"No, you have to finish the sequence to open it." She turned back and kept punching buttons on the tube.

"I'll start checking these… Tomoko! Come here and let me show you this, you check that batch over there…"

Susan lifted the lid of Professor Boma's tube and put a heating blanket over him. Koschei and K-9 lifted him onto the bed and she monitored his vitals carefully as he slowly woke. Koschei dropped a kiss on her cheek and moved away to start checking tubes as well.

"Susanatrevelar?" he murmured and then his face got a rather stricken expression. "Oh, child, I never wanted you to know what he made me do." The ancient Time Lord was crying and Susan took his hand gently.

"It's all right, Professor," she soothed. "I understand. I really do. We were all forced to do terrible things during the War." He nodded at her, but the tears were still in his eyes.

"Those poor children, he... Omega, Susan, those children..." he choked out, his eyes bleak.

"Diana! Come here!" Susan called and Diana came up beside her with a smile.

"All white lights so far," she beamed. "Adie and Tomoko too."

"Professor Boma, this is Diana, she is free now. All of them are," she told him and he looked at Diana with an expression of profound joy.

"My child! My dear girl," he told her and grasped her hand in his. "Oh, I'm so very glad!"

"Hello," Diana smiled at him. "You're the first person we've woken up. I am so glad it worked! My sister Tomoko is around here too somewhere. You'll be fine, don't worry. Susan is really good at this."

"But you are all safe? All of the clones were rescued?" he asked anxiously and Diana nodded.

"Oh yes, all of us, busted right out and we dealt with the Manifold, we hope, so no worries there."

"The Manifold?" The white-haired professor looked at her blankly.

"Biggest bug ever known to mankind," Diana told him with a knowing nod.

"One of the Rani's military projects," Susan explained and Boma nodded.

"I wasn't involved in any of that," he replied. "I was only brought in to build the clones. The Master had created the base template, but he's rubbish at biologicals, you know, so I had to do the final work-up."

"Oh. About that," Diana suddenly remembered.

"Yes?" the professor enquired.

"The Master was actually under Rassilon's control. When Rassilon died, he was freed. He's much better now," Susan explained.

"Rassilon is dead?" Boma gasped.

"Let's wait until everyone is awake, then we can discuss this fully. I would rather not have to explain this a hundred times over," Susan said warningly to Diana.

"Okay," Diana agreed easily. "You've been asleep a long time," she told the Professor. "I'll let the Doctor know, and he can do a briefing for everyone once everyone wakes up."

"I take it that the news isn't all good then," Boma asked and Susan shook her head.

"Help me here and then we can all talk," she replied and he sat up briskly, still rather spry for his age.

"Yes, of course. I'm a doctor, after all, and there are patients that need to be tended to." He stood up and Susan craned her neck to smile at him. She had forgotten how tall he was, she realized with a start. In her mind he was shorter, then she realized that she had shrunk in her last regeneration, she was slightly shorter than she had been.

Together they got to work, while Susan mused on her shifts in perspective.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 - Rude Awakening

Farian was hovering over Susan as she worked to wake his wife.

Amaranthia was lying still in her cryo coffin, her face serene, and he was torn between the joy of holding her again and the pain that he knew was coming for her. She was

"She's coming along well," Susan soothed him and he smiled at her.

"I had no idea that you and the Master were bondmates. It explains a great deal." He was looking at the golden cords that spread off from her with a feeling of having missed some very obvious clues.

"Well, you were rather a bit busy to be paying much attention to mere details," she reminded him gently and he gave her a long look.

"You were always a very forgiving child," he murmured. "Though not a child anymore," he added hurriedly and she chuckled.

"Oh, my head aches so!" Amaranthia sighed and Susan stepped back to let him be the one she saw first. His hearts contracted in joy, as she opened her eyes and smiled at him.

"Hello, Bumblebee," he said softly and she grinned suddenly, reaching up to put her arms around his neck.

"Hello, Old Stork," she laughed. "Where are the children? Are they well?" she asked suddenly, looking worried.

"They're fine, Dr. Susan is already working on waking them up." He raised his head and Amaranthia turned her to follow his gaze to where Susan was leaning over a cryo tube.

* * *

Susan opened up the tube and a girl who looked about one hundred and fifty or so, was inside of the tube. Koschei carried her to a table, where she ran a few scans. She had the same nut brown skin and hair as her mother, the same pointed chin and sharp nose, but her eyes had more of her father's twinkle and the warmth of her smile was dazzling. Susan liked her immediately.

Farian and his wife peered over Susan's shoulder as she worked, looking concerned, and Susan shot them a reassuring smile.

The girl's eyes fluttered open and Susan stepped back. Her parents moved forward and Farian hugged her tightly, before relinquishing her to her mother.

"Milla," Amaranthia sighed out and hugged her daughter close.

Susan turned to wake their son with a smile on her face. Some days it was really worth all the terrors, just to be able to do something wonderful, like reunite a family.

* * *

The Doctor stood before the assembled group of newly rescued Time Lords and felt his hearts lodging in his throat. A hundred and forty-three people looked back at him and he knew that he now had to tell them that they had lost everything and there was no getting it back.

He had to tell them that he personally had pressed the button that had destroyed their homes and families, explain why he had done it, and hope they understood.

He took a deep breath and began.

* * *

Susan leaned against Guinn and tried not to be nervous.

"Great, a whole large group of people who hate me, not for general causes, but personally and viscerally," Guinn grumbled.

"Well, on the plus side, it was the Doctor who destroyed Gallifrey, so they will probably hate him a lot more than you," Koschei pointed out.

"Not helping, Shay," Susan sighed, chewing nervously on her thumb.

"Look, they may not hate any of us. After all, if Gallifrey were still around, they'd all be up on charges for committing war crimes. It could be a bit of a relief," Koschei countered and both Guinn and Susan glared at him. "I'm just saying!"

They stayed in the kitchen and hoped for the best.

* * *

"Firstly, as you've no doubt noticed, this is an alternate universe," the Doctor informed them and the Time Lords all nodded. They could feel the way that time ran differently here than in the Prime Universe. "In this universe, the Time Lords never evolved past rudimentary fusion drives," he continued. "They became extinct some time back, but Gallifrey, the planet itself, remains and that is the home that we are returning to from here. An important thing though, is that the Daleks also never evolved here. There are no Daleks in this universe." There was an audible sigh of relief at that.

"Engineer First Class Gerastinalafardia, my Lord Doctor, Arcalian Chapter," a reed-thin woman, with sharp black eyes, dark skin, and curly black hair, introduced herself and he bowed politely. "What happened to our Gallifrey?"

"It was destroyed," he informed them and there was a moment of terrible silence, as they absorbed that grief. "We lost the Time War and the planet was destroyed." He was about to go into details, but he was interrupted.

"How many survivors?" a petite brunette asked and he winced.

"Thirty-five children and thirty adults, besides all of you," he informed them and the silence became palpable.

"Are you telling us that there are less that three hundred Time Lords left in the entire universe?" a man with a beak of a nose and the over-bred look of a high house lord-ling asked in horror.

"No, because my granddaughter, Susanatrevelar, has been cloning infants for the last five years, and now we have one hundred twenty-five infants as well. We have the Eye of Harmony and a full copy of the Matrix, so we have plenty of genetic material to recreate our people," the Doctor assured him.

"Lord Freesandreustinoerge, Head of the Scendles Chapter," the beaky nose introduced himself and again the Doctor bowed, though he suspected he was being a bit less polite about it this time. "Is she only recreating Prydonians?"

"I believe that she was using material from all of the Chapters in an attempt to create a balanced society," the Doctor replied in a soft tone.

"Without the permission of their Chapter Heads?" he gasped, looking scandalized.

"Who was she going to ask?" Farian enquired with a wry smile. "Thirty adult survivors? Not likely that there was anyone about to get permission from."

Lord Freesandreustinoerge sat down abruptly, looking as though he'd bitten into something sour.

"It is rather a moot point," the petite brunette pointed out. "Doctor Valentia, Dromeian Chapter. My question is how much infrastructure is available on Gallifrey. Will there be room for us?"

"A very sensible question," the Doctor told her with a smile. "We've been rebuilding there for five years, with the help of the people of Earth and the Federated Planets."

"Excuse me?" Lord Freesandreustinoerge interrupted. "Lesser races have been contributing to the rebuilding of Gallifrey?"

"Gallifrey has many races living on it right now, Humans, Typdygs, Alpha Centaurians, Albins, and many others. They have shops, farms, are helping to build our cities, teach in our schools, are raising our children, and have been extraordinarily generous with their time and energy," Andred broke in, giving the snobby High House lord a cool look as he did so.

"A temporary measure, no doubt," Freesandreustinoerge commented.

"No, Frees," Farian cut him off before he could say anything else. "This is how things are now. There aren't enough of us, so we need help. These people have helped us. I think it would be rather rude to accept that help and then kick them off the planet when they are all done helping build it, don't you?"

"A Time Lord always pays his debts," Andred reminded him and Frees snapped his mouth shut and sat down.

"We are ready," Gerastinalafardia told the Doctor, with a sideways look of annoyance at Frees, "to do whatever is needed to rebuild our world."

"Thank you, Geri," Farian replied with a smile.

"What's the first step?" Doctor Valentia asked.

"First step is to get back, find everyone beds, and get a good hot meal into you," the Doctor told them all. "Second step will be figuring out who all we have, what everyone's professions are, and where you are all needed."

"For my own curiosity, how many of you were either smuggled in by a Time Lady named Aislynn, or are members of her house?" Tomoko asked, looking around at them all.

Many hands went up and then several of them stood.

"We fourteen are Dromeians," stated a stocky young man with bright black eyes and a slightly self-conscious air. "She's the highest ranking one of us left, unless there were other survivors on Gallifrey?"

"No, she's your Head of Chapter now," Andred confirmed. "The Doctor Heads the Prydonians, Farian will be heading the Ceruleans from what I can see," he told them, looking around the table. Several heads nodded. "The rest of them, you will have to work out for yourselves."

"No!" the Doctor interrupted, glaring around the table. "We are not doing this!" He ran a hand through his hair and frowned at them. "We are rebuilding Gallifrey, but we are not going to make the same mistakes that our forefathers made. I will abolish the Chapters, Lines, and Houses, before I allow us to fall into those old destructive patterns again!."

There was some shouting and many expressions of dismay, but most of the room simply went silent.

"We are setting up a Temporal Monitoring Station, but all time sensitive races will be welcome to work there. We are done with the insular nonsense, the mad scramble for superiority, and perfect genetics. It will not happen again." He glared around the table. "Anyone who does not agree with this, can be dropped off at the planet of their choosing, but they will not be coming to Gallifrey with us."

There was dead silence.

"I have no problem with any of that," Farian told him and other heads began to slowly nod. Only a very few looked unhappy, including Lord Frees.

"I was mostly thinking of organizational structure," Tomoko frowned. "I thought the Heads of Houses would be helpful, they would know people, could help find beds and things…"

"That's how it starts though, Tomoko," Farian sighed out. "That's how it started out the last time. A temporary thing to help us rebuild and then we codified it, hemmed it about with traditions, and then laws, until it became the structure that underlaid everything. The Doctor is right. We need to begin as we mean to go on."

"Right, how about we set it that our seniority in our field will work right now to get us organized and then we can rework that when we get to Gallifrey," suggested Geri with a look at the Doctor.

"That's an excellent suggestion," the Doctor agreed, giving Geri a look of approval, though Frees looked even more upset by the concept. "Let's start by putting together a master list. Tomoko, could you help me with that, please?"

"Yes of course," Tomoko said.

"One other thing," Farian said as he stood up. "Rassilon is dead, but the Master is here and alive." There was a great deal of angry muttering at this.

"Well, we can take care of that quickly enough," a bitter looking man, with broad shoulders and face like a bull's, told them and Tomoko glared at him.

"Pallen, upon Rassilon's death, it was discovered that he had been controlling the Master since he was a child," Farian explained and there were some looks of disbelief, but also some of thoughtful interest.

"Easy to say!" Pallen snorted and Farian shook his head.

"We have testimony from his bondmate that he was in fact being controlled with Binding Compulsions," he continued and even Pallen looked pained at that.

"If that is true," he came back, "then yes, I can forgo stringing up his skinny arse, but I am going to want some proof!"

Tomoko stood up and glared daggers at him.

"Let me put it this way: touch him and my sisters and I will forget how forgiving we are," she growled and the Time Lords all stared at her in surprise.

"Of all people, you lot ought to hate him the most!" Pallen objected and she nodded.

"Yes, we ought to, which should tell you something," she pointed out and he sat down slowly, watching her with a considering gaze.

"Very well," he agreed.

* * *

The TARDIS materialized in a nest of clones.

Tomoko had not been exaggerating when she had stated that the Mashas were terrified of the trip to the Command Centre. They were all relieved in various ways that they weren't going; but as the minutes had become hours, the fear had gone round the group that Susan, her TARDIS, and everyone on board might never return.

They all knew where Susan normally parked her TARDIS and so they had all gathered at the clinic, hanging out near the landing space, leaning against the walls of the hallways, sitting in chairs,or on the floor. They all stood up when they heard the characteristic "Zwoosh" noise of the TARDIS landing in its bay.

Susan stepped out with Guinn and Koschei on her heels and paused in surprise when she saw all the Mashas standing around.

"Hello, are you all here for a check-up?" she asked, baffled.

"You're okay?" It happened to be Evie-44, who was in front, looking at her with an anxious expression, which was copied almost precisely on the face of every other Masha there.

"Yes, why wouldn't we be?" Koschei asked, equally confused.

There was a babble of voices all at once about the same basic themes: the scary space station full of monsters.

"We thought you weren't coming back!"

"We were afraid you would be killed!"

"Sorry to disappoint you," Guinn teased and smiled at the Mashas. "But, we're all fine. We did go for a lovely stroll though and found a large group of surviving Time Lords hiding out there from the War."

"Time Lords? Oh… you must have rescued everyone from the prison cells!"

"Go Susan go!"

"Were there many people imprisoned there?"

"What happened?"

"Why would they imprison other Time Lords? Was there a jail?"

"Quiet!" Susan called out, hands on her hips. "There is no way I can answer you lot, if you all insist on talking over each other!" She shook her head. "Now, let's all go to the Panopticon, there is going to be a rather large meeting there, since we have a lot to tell and need to tell everyone at once."

She shooed them forwards, waving them out of the clinic and making room for everyone to exit her TARDIS.

"This is going to put the cat amongst the pigeons," Guinn murmured to her.

"In what way?" she asked.

"We've just quintupled the number of Time Lords on Gallifrey," Koschei pointed out. "Some of them don't seem thrilled about the Doctor's plans either."

"Yes, this meeting could get interesting," Guinn murmured.

* * *

"Pete!" the Doctor called out to his father-in-law.

"Doctor! What are we going to do with them all?" Pete asked, gesturing about at the Time Lords.

"I figure we can put them in temporary housing for now and then we'll need to get a town council meeting put together to discuss the rest of it," the Doctor replied with a shrug.

"Right. This is wonderful, of course, but...," Pete was looking about with a bit of dismay and the Doctor nodded.

"Yeah, we're pretty much done for," the Doctor agreed cheerfully and Pete rolled his eyes heavenwards, praying for patience.

* * *

The Doctor frowned at the assembled group, wondering how this was all going to work. The newly rescued Time Lords were still shell-shocked by all the revelations and were so used to following orders that he had them under control for now. How long that would last was anyone's guess.

Farian seemed to be de facto leader and he was a man of excellent sense, which was a relief, but some of the rescued newcomers looked decidedly uncomfortable around the humans and other races that were all seated in the Panopticon with them. The fact that 'aliens' outnumbered the adult Time Lords rather significantly might also account for that.

"So, we'll set up a few more huts," Pete agreed and nodded at Farian. "After that we can get the nano-assemblers to work on additional housing."

"How's that going to impact the building schedule?" Taressia asked. The white-skinned, red-eyed woman, who closely resembled her cousin, the Shadow Architect, was the Head of the nascent Temporal Defence Agency and was frowning as she thought through the problem.

"Well, it will slow things down a bit, but not by all that much," Pete assured her, calculating rapidly on his notepad as he went. "It adds another week to the TARDIS nursery, another three days to the Time Agency, and about three weeks to the Academy Expansion Project," he told her, once his fingers had stilled.

"That's not as bad as I was imagining," Taressia sighed out in relief. "Please don't take this amiss, Farian, but with all the Reaper incursions and timeline issues, getting the Agency up and running has been a great worry to us all."

"No, no, I understand. I'm actually rather amazed at all you have managed to accomplish, in so short a time," he soothed her and the Doctor suspected that he had the makings of a diplomat.

"Right, so, now that we have more geneticists, how will that impact Susan's project?" Kate Stewart asked and they continued to discuss all the new wrinkles.

The Doctor looked back and forth between them all, his eyes then glancing over the assembled colonists, and he really hoped that he wasn't watching the entirety of his plan to start anew about to be torpedoed.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 - Meeting of Minds

Diana snuck through the crowd until she got to the edge of the room, right next to the door, before dialling. She half-wanted to listen to the meeting; but there was a big important discovery involved and its presence needed to be relayed at once. She didn't want to interrupt or distract, but she wanted to be close enough to hear.

She scowled when the phone continued to ring; then hung it up and dialled a new number. After a moment she stepped into the doorway so that she could speak in a low tone without bothering anyone.

"Owen? It's Diana, I'm trying to get hold of Aislynn, but she's not answering, do you know…" Her voice trailed away.

A moment later she had stepped right out of the door, closing it behind her.

Five minutes later, she stepped back in and manoeuvred through the crowd to Susan. She pulled on her elbow.

"Susan," she whispered. "Come with me."

"Is it an emergency?" she asked. "This is rather important."

Diana flipped open her laptop, set figures to scrolling across the screen, and shoved it into her hands.

"You're the doctor, you tell me." Her face was deadly serious. Susan read it through and a frown etched itself into her face. Without a word, she nudged her husbands and they all slipped out of the meeting.

"Are we going to transfer her to your TARDIS?" Diana asked.

"Of course not. She's highly contagious, she has to stay in quarantine. We'll Trans Mat to her."

"Fine. Do you have suits or something?" Diana asked as they headed down the corridor. "Because I'm immune, but you're not. Also, bring any tools or things that you think you'll need want because medi-bay isn't functional."

"Yes, you mentioned that her ship was damaged. I'll have to stop off at my TARDIS and finish the vaccinations on myself. She has equipment though, between the things that Dar stole from me, which I am going to have words with him about, and the crates of equipment I've already sent over, we'll be covered."

"Diana," Koschei asked her, while Guinn was already heading towards the workshop. "Just what sort of damage are we talking about? I presume the self-repair systems are offline?"

"Oh, yeah, they're hosed."

"Does the Elysium have power?"

"Uh-huh, well, we have the mini-Eye, so there's, like, food and lights and things. The airlock works fine. Supposedly the Eye will run everything on the whole ship, but it seems like… I dunno, all of the major systems are offline, so there must be additional things wrong with them. But you'll have all the power you'll ever what, if you can figure out how to make it go."

"What, precisely, is a 'mini-eye?'"

"Aislynn made it. It's based off something called the Eye of Harmony, but it's littler."

"Ah," Koschei replied looking rather nonplussed. "Someday I will have to find out how she did that." He shook his head. "Dar said that he sent her the parts to repair her ship though."

"Did he?" Diana shrugged. "I dunno about that."

"Well, hopefully Taydin can help her with that then," Koschei replied absently.

"Taydin?"

"Susan and he were both vaccinating themselves, so that they could go over and help her," he replied.

"Really?" Diana blinked and then grinned. "Go him!"

"Uh..." Koschei gave her a startled look and then smiled. "As you say," he murmured.

Susan emerged from her lab a few minutes later with her gray satchel over her shoulder and an abstracted air about her.

"You'll be careful, of course?" Koschei cautioned and she smiled up at him, stepping into his arms and kissing him softly.

"Of course I will," she assured him. "Besides, you two designed the vaccine, so it's fine."

"It'd better be," he responded, looking unhappy.

"It worked on Diana," she pointed out.

"Who already had a terrifying immune system that could bench press a Silurian Flu Virus and then run a marathon," he grumbled and she laughed and kissed him again, more deeply.

"Now, you go help Guinn, while I go take care of my patient, so off with you," she insisted and shooed Koschei off towards the workshop, while she strode to the Trans Mat to Torchwood 3 with a brisk stride.

"We're going? Finally?" Diana asked.

"Spit spot, Diana, don't dawdle," Susan replied and grinned back at her over her shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll be there very shortly."

* * *

They stepped off of the Trans Mat and Cassie and Mike were waiting for them.

"So, what's going on?" Cassie asked.

"She's taken a turn for the worse and I don't have time to chat about it," Susan told her with a small smile, still moving at a quick pace.

"Is she a danger to Earth?" Cassie asked as they entered the lift.

"Now you ask?" Susan snapped, frowning fiercely and punching the button for basement level 6. "Yes, of course she is! She's got Dalek Nanites in her! But, I will deal with it."

"Right," Cassie replied, looking taken aback.

"You tell Peter Tyler that the next time a bio hazard is presented to you, see to it that you lot actually notify me, eh? It would be rather nice," she snarked.

"I assumed that Dar...," Mike began.

"Never assume, especially with Dar," she sighed as the door chimed and opened.

"I'll remember that," Mike promised and Susan shot him a smile, as she headed for the plain looking closet door set between two cement pillars.

"Also, we found One hundred forty-three more Time Lords," she told them and they froze in place, staring after them both.

"Are you mad at Dar?" Diana asked.

"Furious, but I don't have time to worry about that right now."

"Right." Diana stepped forwards, produced her key, and opened the door.

Beyond was a solid white room without doors or windows. Diana stepped in, gestured Susan in, then closed the door.

"This is the airlock," she said to Susan. "It wasn't until after I met you that I figured that it might be some anti-Nanite thing? I suppose? It takes thirty seconds to cycle."

"That's the most likely answer," Susan replied, chewing on her lip in thought.

The door opened and a skinny, dark-haired fellow with a wide mouth and piercing dark eyes opened it.

"Doctor Susan?" he enquired.

"Doctor Harper, I presume," she tossed back and he smiled, but it was a bare stretching of his lips. He looked exhausted, dark circles under his bloodshot eyes and his hair greasy and limp.

"Yes. Are you vaccinated?"

"Yes," Susan replied and moved past him gently, heading into the console room as soon as the airlock door had closed behind them.

* * *

K'anpo Rinpoche held Liira and Lillitara's hands as they balanced on the branch. The twin girls were turning seven soon and he was stunned by how fast they had grown.

Vares and Sindian were sitting nearby, heads together down over a notebook, doing their school-work with expressions of concentration.

"Well, if we remove that electron, what happens?" Vares asked his younger sibling, who grinned and began working through the problem with him.

Sondam was sitting quietly a bit farther away, watching a butterfly drifting on the breeze, his face rapt as he studied it.

The youngest of K'anpo's adoptees, he was also the most profoundly damaged of them all. He'd lost so much. They all had, of course, but he'd been found on a battlefield having witnessed first hand the horrors of the war and the deaths of his family.

Very few nights passed where he didn't wake screaming. The rest of the time, he never spoke a word.

The twins had started speaking a few months back, though they were still scared and their speech could be halting as they tried to force words past the agony in their hearts.

K'anpo froze suddenly, his mind filling up with a song he hadn't heard in far too long. He helped the girls down from the branch and turned as a tall, stocky figure came walking through the woods towards them.

"Alli," he murmured, feeling tears starting in his eyes.

"Who's she?" Liira asked in a harsh, frightened whisper.

"My wife," he told them simply and then strode forward to gather her into his arms.

"K'an," she cried, holding onto him tightly as he crushed her against him.

"Alli," he repeated, unable to believe that it was really her.

"Hello," she replied, brown eyes warm on his. "I'm home."

* * *

Owen led the tiny ginger woman down the hallways to the medi-bay. She'd seemed taller over the monitor, he mused. In person she was really short, her hair was bright copper and more fiery than he'd thought, and it was shorter than he remembered.

"You get a haircut?" he asked.

"I caught on fire and my hair burned," she replied. He opened his mouth to ask and then closed it again. They walked into the Medi-bay and the ginger doctor moved with quiet efficiency, checking vitals and turning back Aislynn's eyelids.

"How long has she been unconscious?" Susan asked and Owen responded, both of them quickly falling into the rhythm of consulting and working together over their patient. She was competent and he respected that and she listened to him carefully, not dismissing him, as he'd been half-afraid she would.

This could work, he thought to himself and sighed out in relief.

* * *

Maradee felt the warm familiarity of her mother's mind and ran through the bustling streets.

"Mummy!" she screamed, pushing through the crowd, tears streaming down her face.

"Mara!" she heard the cry and pushed between legs, dropping down to hands and knees trying to get to her mother.

Strangers grabbed her and she was lifted up, suddenly finding herself being passed from person to person, as her mother's mind grew stronger in hers.

Finally, she saw her, saw her mother pushing through the crowd to her and at long last, she was in her arms again.

"Mummy!" she sobbed, clinging to her desperately, and her mother held her so tightly.

"Oh, Mara! You're so big," her mother cried, her voice breaking, as she sank to her knees, her daughter wrapped around her.

Neither one was particularly coherent after that, but neither one cared.

* * *

Diana caught her breath at the sight of Aislynn. Her skin had taken on an ominous greyish tone, and her hair, previously long and bright red and curly, had all been trimmed very short, shorter even than Susan's.

"...And her Artron levels?" Susan was asking Owen.

"Dropped a bit, but not dangerously low," he replied and Susan nodded, setting up a device next to her and turning it on.

"Well, I brought a few more functional monitors and K-9," she informed him as the robot dog unfolded itself from inside of her bag."

"It's bigger on the inside?" he asked, staring at the bag, and she nodded. "So, what else you got in there, Mary Poppins?" he asked and she frowned.

"I still do not like my portrayal in that, it's ridiculous and overblown," she muttered and Owen stared at her, before shaking his head and getting back to work.

"Why is it doing that?" Diana sounded alarmed as several of the monitors began beeping at once.

"She's dying, Diana and we're trying to stop that from happening. Please be patient while we work," Susan replied and she and Owen dived back into their efforts, hands moving over the patient and tools humming and buzzing, all their attention riveted on Aislynn and the monitors.

Diana's eyes flooded with tears.

"But," she said to no one in particular, "We found all the Time Lords! She waited a hundred years and she was finally able to get someone to go look and now… she might never know it," she finished in a rough whisper, then shook her head. "I'll get out of the way," she said and beat a hasty retreat.

The two doctors seemed to hardly notice her absence as they fought to keep Aislynn alive.

* * *

All over Gallifrey. old friends were reuniting, families were coming back together, and people who'd fallen asleep while the old Gallifrey still stood were coming to terms with all that had been lost.

Some were finding that everyone they'd ever known had died and been lost, while some were finding that while one or two members of their family had survived, but the rest were dead and gone.

* * *

Diana didn't know much about first-aid in either direction, since she had rarely been on the receiving end, and hadn't given much beyond the very basics. She hung out in the control room with nothing to do, because she knew that she would be a distraction to Susan and Owen, and that mustn't occur.

After a few minutes of hanging out uncertainly, she sent a text to Jake-77.

"Aislynn's dying," she texted him. "We found all the Time Lords because of her, and she may never know it." She glared at her phone as if it had done something to offend her, then headed dejectedly down towards the Replicator to get it to make tea.

"I'm sorry, Angel. Don't give up hope, through. Susan's Aces, she can do it," he texted back.

"Hope so. How's it going in the big meeting?"

"People talk too much," he replied and she could almost hear the tone of exasperation. "They just need to shut up and start building crap."

"Make tea!" Diana scolded the replicator ball, then sat down near it.

"Has everyone reached for weapons?" She texted Jake.

"Nope, the Doctor has used the eyebrow a couple of times though. Oh! He's pulled out the brainy specs, now things will get rolling," he replied.

"You need a pair of brainy specs. Brainy specs are sexy."

"I tend to like people to underestimate my brains, makes them less wary around me, but for you, sure thing," he sent back and his smirk was quite clear in her mind's eye.

* * *

The two Koscheis were in their workshop, working on the next phase of the cure for Aislynn. The Doctor was hiding out with them, trying to avoid Pete, Kate, Farian, or anyone else with a notepad in their hands. It was getting rather hectic out there and he was praying that it would work itself out without him having to sign anything else.

"She's been Singing at the Nanites," Guinn grumbled, paging through the data. "It's altered them rather significantly."

"It looks that way, she must have been worried about infecting others, but it must have made things even worse for her," Koschei sighed.

"Where are the concentration levels…" Guinn flipped through several screens until he found the data he wanted, then exhaled slowly. "So, first of all; there is no way that Lady Aislynn is thinking clearly."

"Not with that much clogging her up. She must be half mad at this point," Koschei muttered.

"Rather like me," the Doctor groaned and scrubbed at his face.

"How is it going?" Koschei asked and the Doctor gave him a rather grim look.

"It's a stress, honestly. For all the delight of having them here and the many problems that their presence solves, there are also a host of new wrinkles to make it all interesting," he retorted.

"If we put in this here," Guinn said, typing rapidly, symbols blooming on the screens.

"Ah! Yes!" Koschei exclaimed and the Doctor smiled to see them working together so well.

"I'll just read a book or something, shall I?" he chuckled as they began gesticulating and designing at a frenetic pace.

* * *

"Jake," Adie murmured and he looked up from his terminal to greet her.

"Hey," he replied, gesturing her into Diana's chair.

"Is it okay?" she asked, nervously eyeing the chair, and he smiled.

"She's on Earth, helping Susan to take care of that sick Time Lord," Jake explained and she nodded solemnly at him.

"I haven't really had a chance to speak with you since everything happened," she said. "Now that we are back on Gallifrey, I… I just wanted to make sure that you were all right and… I wanted to thank you. For going in after them all. It was very brave of you. I can't tell you how grateful I am."

"Um, nothing to be grateful for, just making sure Diana was okay," he said with a flushed face. "Um, I do actually need to tell you something." He stared at the desk for a moment before coughing. "Well, you might want to sit down for this."

"I am sitting," Adie said, amused.

"Right, of course you are. So, I had trouble convincing the Amazons about stuff sometimes so... I told them about you and showed them the bridge map you made. They were really... impressed. "Adie says" kinda became the way I could make them believe me. So, they kinda respect you. A lot."

"Ah," she said, "That explains the Library… yes, I understand now." She considered her words carefully. "Well I can't say I am not disconcerted, but the point was to get them all out alive. You did that. I will not question your methods."

"Thanks, I was kind of desperate a couple of times, you see. They were scared. Some of them, they'd never known anything but the Loops, hundreds of years they'd been there and they weren't sure they could function anywhere else, so I kind of said, you'd be there... on the outside, to help. I'm sorry, but I'm a human, and they were built by Time Lords. They might not have liked them, but they respected them and had the habit of obeying them. It was all I could think of," he finished shamefacedly, but Adie shook her head.

"No," she said, "I am sorry. I was the one that put them all there in the first place. If the original Gallifrey was still extant, I would be turning myself in for violating the Sistron Articles. As it is, I feel I owe them a debt, so you did well to tell them that I would help them."

"I'm sorry, but how were you responsible? I seem to recall that you got shoved on that station as an alternative to being killed and were pretty much a slave. So, sorry, but I do have to disagree with you there. I don't think prisoners are tried for the stuff they were forced to do under pain of death," he told her with a look of compassion, and he dropped a hand on her shoulder and gave her a little shake. "We're all guilty of lots of stuff, no need to weigh ourselves down with stuff we didn't do."

Adie shook her head, but it was a move of agreement.

"Oh, you are good for me," she smiled. "Yes, agreed. However, I still want to help."

"Of course you do, Doc says they're your sisters or something, by that law, though that doesn't make the Master your Da, which is good, cause that would just be weird, you know?" he teased.

"With this group, things do tend to get weird in a hurry. I am actually researching the Articles at present, so I expect things will get even weirder soon," she teased.

"Yeah, I heard Susan was on the warpath, good on her. I love Diana and am very happy she exists, but I sure wouldn't want to inflict that creation on anyone else. Not ethical isn't even the start of the things I'd say to that Rassilon bloke," he said with a frown.

"No kidding. Thankfully, he is dead." Adie said. Her eyes at that moment were curiously blank.

"Yeah, Koschei says he got his arse kicked back into the Time Lock when he tried to get out, along with the Doc's Mum, sadly." Jake looked unhappy. "Pity about that one, she saved the lot of them, you know, the original group of Time Lords. Except for you and Aislynn, every last one of them was here because of her. She stole the Eye of Harmony too, or built a new one, Doc's not too sure about that. He keeps muttering about the "Hand of Omega" or some such, lots of secrets that one has. Doctor's got tons of them and hardly ever lets on." Jake laughed. "Listen to me, yammering away when I ought to be working."

"I won't keep you," Adie smiled, standing. "Although, I did also want to relay a heads-up."

"Oh? Am I about to get propositioned by the next dozen now?" he asked a bit wild-eyed.

"I think that would depend on Diana, don't you? " She smirked.

"She was quite happy to pass me around, but I had to insist on no more than five at a time. Those girls will kill me!" he grumbled.

"I don't know about killing you," Adie said, "But there are a number of plots to feed you up. I imagine you'll be getting quite a lot of food presently."

"Oh, I don't mind that, Evie-44 spent her hundred years reading through a library, she cooked what she could find and did a pretty good job of it," he told her.

"Keep in mind few of them have ever had a chance to try and cook before, with actual ingredients, I mean."

"Well, yeah, but they're all fairly clever and fast learners, if they weren't they'd not have survived, eh? So, I'll take a bromo and be brave," he teased.

"You've faced so many horrors, I am sure that you will prevail in the face of scorched pie crust," she smiled at him, and turned to go.

"Never let it be said that I quailed in the face of pudding," he called to her and with a grin went back to work.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 - Fighting for Time

Susan was working with calm, steady precision. As worried as she was, she had a delicate situation here and haste would only cause problems.

She activated the blood filtration device, watching as the bad Nanites were filtered out and the good Nanites were added in. She was hopeful that it would start to tip the balance back in Aislynn's favour.

"Will these ones make her obey?" Owen asked her suddenly and she shook her head.

"Not the ones that I am putting in, but I can't take out all the old Time Lord ones right now, they are all that is holding back the Dalek ones. Once she's stabilized, we can start working on that, but it's got to wait a bit." He frowned and she could hardly blame him, she hated it a great deal herself.

"When will we have her stabilized?" he asked.

"That's an excellent question," she sighed. "Put that shunt through there please," she instructed.

"So, you have no idea because...?" he asked.

"Sorry," she chuckled. "You've studied up so much that you're making me forget that you didn't go to school for this." He gave her a wry smile. "I have no idea because the Dalek Nanites will regroup sometimes after a setback. Once we get her over this hump, it will still be at least two weeks before she's no longer contagious, and several weeks before she's completely out of danger."

"I see," he replied, sounding unhappy about it.

There was a strident buzzing from the cardiac monitors and Susan began swearing in Old Norse.

"Grab the cardiac stim!" she called and K-9 moved swiftly to obey. She slapped the first pad on Aislynn's chest and then the second over her other heart and pulled her sonic.

"Clear!" she shouted and they both jumped back as she activated the pads.

Aislynn's body arched as the jolt of energy went through her and then the monitor beeped cautiously before settling down.

"Bloody hell!" Owen muttered and Susan nodded.

"It's going to be a long night, Owen."

* * *

Tomoko collapsed face-first onto her cot in the storage room next to the cooling chamber. She was exhausted from the earlier flameout, and closed her eyes, drifting off at once.

* * *

Tomoko opened her eyes.

She was standing in the bright sunshine, just outside of the Trans Mat tube. It was a busy hub, with people going back and forth. As she watched, a chattering couple entered together, punched in their number, and disappeared.

She checked her watch. It was hours later. Sleepwalking?

Tomoko felt a sudden surge of alarm and then a soothing sensation came over her. It was nothing really, she realized and went back to the TARDIS to nap again.

As she came in, she saw the Doctor with a tall, blond, broad shouldered man. who towered over her like a mountain.

"Darginian, meet Tomoko, Tomoko, Darginian," the Doctor introduced with a wide grin.

"Nice to meet you," Dar murmured and her hand was enveloped in a large, very strong grasp.

Tomoko frowned very briefly. She had had something that she had wanted to tell the Doctor, but now it had slipped her mind. Her eyes turned to Darginian instead, and they were bright as she gave him an appraising look.

"Nice to meet you…how do you feel about tea?"

"Brilliant idea, I have to go supervise some cranky builders," the Doctor snarked and Dar bowed politely to Tomoko and extended an arm.

"My Lady, would you care to accompany me to fetch tea, eat biscuits, and talk piffle to each other?" he asked.

Tomoko hesitated, then took his arm.

"Sure," she said. "Let's see if Susan left any of those shortbread ones, those are my favourite…" She waved at Susan.

"The thought of those cookies makes my hearts sing," he sighed and escorted Tomoko with amusing gallantry towards the kitchen.

* * *

Tomoko smiled at him, but looked thoughtful at the same time. He swept her into a chair, bringing her tea and cookies with a bow.

"My Lady, your servant," Dar murmured and then got a cup for himself, folding himself into a chair and watching her over the rim of his cup with interest. She was tiny, was his first impression. Tiny and very very bright. She looked at him with an appraising expression, her eyes flicking over him, cataloguing everything about him, and he was finding that she intrigued him greatly. It was actually a trifle alarming for him.

"The tea is charming, as is the company," he continued, taking refuge in the ridiculous platitudes of high society. He was studying her as well, trying to figure her out, what her buttons were, how she thought. It was harder than usual, because something about her was terribly distracting, like he was trying to listen to two radio stations at the same time.

"So, do tell me where you got the black-market jack from, if you would?" he asked suddenly. "I am aflutter with curiosity."

"I stole it… well, no, not exactly, I traded for it. I picked it because it was self-installing and I have to hand it to whoever made it, it works like a champ." She took a sip of her tea, watching him and gauging his reaction. He kept the genial façade firmly in place, he needed to assess her, but didn't want to scare her, at least not yet.

"The Fleet seventeen is a bit faster, but doesn't have as much data buffering," he commented and several things slotted into place in his memory.. "I think you made a good choice." He sipped his tea again. "You're the Rat, aren't you."

"That's me," she smiled at him. "And you are Darginian, sole survivor of the Celestial Intervention Agency, now head of the Gallifreyan Intelligence Service, you and your overworked AI… as I recall." She must have been talking to the Doctor, he guessed, the language use was unmistakable.

"Calling me 'Head' implies that I have people working for me, but at the moment I am the Gallifreyan Intelligence Service entire," he chuckled. "Me and my overworked AI."

"Do you like it? The work, I mean." It was an interesting question, all the more because those yellow green eyes were trying to burn a hole in his head. The way she was staring at him made him strangely uncomfortable.

"Do you like being able to solve puzzles, or, do you do it because it's who you are and you can't help it?" he asked. It was a thought he had mulled over a great deal in the last few centuries and still had no answer.

"Not only an actor, but a philosopher, I see," she looked amused and he was slightly startled by her assessment, even if it was incomplete.

"An actor, a philosopher, a spy, and a killer," he corrected. "CV to follow."

"Oh, of course," she said.

"Do you know what a spy does?" he asked, head cocked and lips quirked in a small smile as he put forth the first test.

"You mean, other than angering ginger doctors by making medical decisions without consulting them?" she replied and he winced, to her evident amusement.

"You heard about that did you? Well, that's just one of the services I provide," he chuckled, turning it into a self-deprecating joke. "But, I didn't do it merely to make her mad. When you are courting an asset, you have to gain their trust, to do that, sometimes you have to risk having a ginger doctor rather miffed with you," he shrugged. "She's got a short fuse, but she also forgives quickly."

Tomoko took a drink of her tea and turned his words over in her head. He could see her brain working as she sat there, ideas slotting into place or being tidied away to some memory bank for later retrieval.

"Do I know what a spy does? Well… I could tell you what I think a spy does and you could tell me where I am wrong," she suggested and he allowed himself to smile a bit.

"I am very skilled at telling people when they are wrong," he teased, through the way her eyes went flat and cold, for a fraction of a second, unnerved him somewhat.

"But, only if it suits your purposes to do so," Tomoko countered. "A spy can be anybody, sweet-talk his way anywhere, get people to believe in him one minute, then turn around and stab them in the back the next minute, if that is what is required by the mission parameters. People and things are either assets or detriments and are to be handled accordingly. The spy has a goal, mission, or purpose, and acts to advance that purpose, whatever it may be." She paused, considering. "And this lovely conversation really isn't a conversation, it's an evaluation. I think you are in the process of categorizing me and determining how I can be beneficial or detrimental to your goals, as well as what you can do to maximize my usefulness to you." She took another sip of her drink. "How am I doing so far?"

"About average, I already knew you were smart, my Lady," he chuckled, pleased that she had figured it out. "Yes, I can be utterly ruthless in pursuing my goal, but my goal is the safety and protection of this planet and it's people. I have the responsibility to defend the very last remnants of my entire race, so I hope you will forgive the sometimes... practical considerations. Yes, this is an evaluation, but not of whether you would be asset or detriment, I determined that long before tea and, had you been a detriment, you'd already have been dealt with. Since we are having this lovely and convivial tea, you can be assured that you are an asset, my Lady," he told her with a pleasant smile that he put on to cover the sudden, uncomfortable realization that he wasn't at all sure he could actually kill her.

For all that he'd just met her, she was affecting him somehow and he was instantly suspicious of that, but at the very same time, was finding himself strangely comfortable in her company. It was quite unsettling.

"Good," she smiled, and poured herself a second cup. "I was hoping it was something like that. For my own curiosity, how and when did you make your determination? And what were the criteria used to do so?"

"About five minutes ago," he told her and sipped his tea with an unruffled calm. "That's when I decided to hire you. As to my criteria, brains, calm, and the ability to think on your feet."

"Hire me as what?"

"An analyst," he told her. "You're already a first class hacker, you have more brains than you know what to do with, you are a puzzle solver, and you watch people. Given that, you would make a perfect analyst." He leaned back in the chair and crossed his feet at the ankles and watched her as he took his next sip of tea, his eyes cataloguing every expression that crossed her face and wondering why he kept getting conflicting data.

"And what do you want me to…" Her voice trailed off, her eyes darting around the room suddenly. Her aura flared a bit and he watched it with a touch of alarm. "Hm. Bombings and the Command Centre?"

"Eventually, yes, but first, I need to research a race called the Shee'tar, actually," he told her, suddenly rather concerned for her. That flare wasn't at all normal.

"Why?' she said simply.

"They killed a man on Earth, who was supplying the terrorists with Garth-Hoburn circuits," he explained and Tomoko's eyebrows rose. Garth-Hoburn circuits were only used in targeted explosives, the kind used in high density areas, where larger explosives might take out whole neighbourhoods, instead of just one house.

"Garth-Hoburn circuits? A hit? Do you know who the target is or was?" He wondered how she knew what they were used for so quickly. He needed to put together a dossier on her.

"Torchwood Agents, seventeen of them so far. They kidnapped them off the streets, implanted cortex bombs and then sent them to work with no memory of the kidnapping. The funny thing is that that tactic was a particular favourite of the old Bosses of Bastone and Religan, back in the day. It's quite the antique, really," he explained as though he was discussing the vagaries of an older vintage of wine, keeping his voice impersonal, despite how unhappy the whole situation made him.

"How do we know what race…" But Tomoko shook her head. "No, stupid question, you mentioned Susan… DNA trace? Or the Shee'tar equivalent thereof?"

"In the wound, yes. They're basically sharks and have two long scaly bone spurs that extend from the elbows, it's their preferred method of killing." He pulled out a notepad and showed her an image of a bipedal, three fingered shark with what looked like swords sticking out of its arms. "Charming folks."

She considered, her aura continuing to flare brighter.

"What happened to the other circuits?'

"The Doctor and Susan picked them out of the brains of the Torchwood agents. Not all of the circuits are accounted for though, which concerns me." Dar just watched her, finding the flares to be ever more alarming. She was teetering on the edge of flaming out and it was deeply disturbing..

"Concerns you how?" She was concentrating now. She took off her jacket and threw it on the back of her chair. He considered getting her a glass of ice water, but discarded the idea, while mentally mapping a route to the nearest cold room.

"Because I don't know where they are or what they intend to do with them next. I dislike not knowing these things," he explained. "I was hoping that the other asset would be able to help me with that."

"The supplier is dead, what happens to the supply?" She slipped off her shoes too. "Wait, what other asset?

"The supply can be picked up again if they can find another seller. The other asset is the one that I got in trouble with Susan over," he explained.

"Must be a helluva asset," mused Tomoko.

"A Singer," he breathed out. "The last functioning Singer left. Oh yes, a very important and useful asset." Tomoko considered this, pushed her tea away, fanning herself absent-mindedly. Her eyes were now quite bright as she thought hard.

"So what's wrong with her?" She said thoughtfully. "The asset."

"Dalek Slave Nanites?" he asked next.

"Ah. Infected. It's Aislynn, then? That's why Susan is mad… no, Aislynn's contagious and you didn't tell her and that's why she is mad," His words had obviously cleared everything up for her. "Airborne? No, too casual, no major disasters… probably just contagious. Yes, I can see why Susan would be upset."

"I rolled the dice and two people died, which is my fault and my responsibility, but I got several interesting things out of it." He still felt guilty about the EMTs, but he hadn't expected them to blow her entire building, he'd been thinking they would try to capture her again.

"Isn't it Aislynn's fault? Doesn't she know she's contagious? Why isn't she somewhere unpopulated?"

"Because at that stage of infection, the mind is clouded and paranoia sets in. The implanted fear of the very people who could cure them is part of the programming," he explained.

"I see," she nodded. "But why live on a populated planet at all?"

"She crashed. She rescued Diana-37 from her Loop with only one TARDIS and then crashed on Earth. One TARDIS, Tomoko, you see how valuable she could be?" he told her and Tomoko scowled.

"You need two TARDIS to break out of a Mobius loop! How did we get stuck there so badly if you only needed one TARDIS to break out?"

"You need two TARDIS, or one and a Singer, a Singer of Block Transfer Mathematics," he explained.

"But broke the TARDIS in the rescue? It's inoperable now? Aren't there self-repair systems?"

"She's working on repairing it now. I've sent her the parts. Even with two deaths though, I got the information that I needed and that was worth a great deal to me." He frowned at the table.

"What information did you get?"

"I found out who the terrorists were and who they worked for," he told her and smiled slightly. "I think that was worth a bit of effort and a few lost cookies."

"So? Who do they work for?" Her eyes had gone flat and cold again and he was disturbed by it. He was having trouble pinning her down and that was rather odd. Who and what was this girl, really?

"An interesting question isn't it," he murmured and sipped his tea again.

* * *

The Doctor strode through the streets of the capital, his coat floating out behind him and his mind racing.

He'd pegged at least two of the newcomers as being potential troublemakers. It was one thing to say you were okay with a complete alteration to the basic structure of your entire society and something else again to actually stand there and see it being implemented.

Farian materialized at his elbow. The lanky man grinned at him and chuckled.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Oh, just thinking of all the times you ducked and dodged the Presidency, determined not to become responsible for this rabble," he teased, waving around at the various people milling about.

"Hm, I'm still ducking and dodging," he admitted and Farian laughed.

"Yes, I can see that. You are very much like your mother, you know," he told him, his face shifting as he thought about her.

"Thank you," the Doctor replied. "If I could do half as well as her, I'd be thrilled."

"You're doing fine," Farian assured him. "Now, let's work on the problems you know we're going to have with Pallen and Frees."

"Oh yes, those two are obviously going to be our problem children," he grumbled and Farian shook his head.

"Pallen has lost everything you know, his entire family. We weren't able to smuggle a single one back. He's terribly broken up and his obstructionism is mostly stemming from that. Frees though, he's just such a snob!" His voice grew distinctly annoyed at the end and the Doctor laughed.

"Tell me about it," the Doctor agreed. "He refers to Pete as "that ginger ape" one more time and I'm going to go spare!" Farian frowned and peered at him.

"Be careful about that. Some of them are a bit... nervy about you just now," he suggested and the Doctor sighed. "Look, I've gone over the data and I really can't see what other choice you had." Farian waited for the Doctor to nod before he continued. "That's my reasoned opinion based on the data. My hearts through, that's harder for me to rule than my head."

"I'm so sorry, I did try to find another way," the Doctor told him, feeling his own hearts breaking again.

"I know you did. We all do. Had it been the M..uh, Koschei that had done it, we'd probably have strung him up by now, but we all know that you'd have died for Gallifrey." He shook his head and the Doctor winced. In a way, he had died for it, he'd killed a part of himself to achieve that end.

"They were going mad at the end," he murmured. "No one sane would have contemplated that for an instant."

"I know that, my boy," Farian sighed out. "Now, let's think about how we're going to do this.

The Doctor nodded and the two men began hashing out the next stage of the plan.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 - Clues

Rose sat curled into her chair, the children playing on the rug nearby with Donna and Wilf, her mind ticking over the numbers and symbols on her notepad, with a dismaying conclusion coming to her.

"Bugger," she muttered.

"Bugger!" Jamie shouted and Rose winced, while Wilf and Donna gently scolded Jamie and Donna gave her an eyebrow.

"Sorry," she sighed and got up and headed out. "I really need to talk to someone about this."

Aislynn's eyes opened. They were blackly circled in her still-rather-greyish skin: but they had lost their granite colour, and the strange silvery cataracts had mostly faded from her eyes. Susan ran the medical sonic over her again and felt a tiny surge of hope.

"You look terrible," Aislynn mumbled to her, almost inaudibly, in a gravelly voice.

"You should see the other guy," Susan murmured with a weary smile. "I've felt better, I have to admit. Still, you're breathing, so that's a win." She yawned hugely.

"Feel like I've been very sick," Aislynn said. "Thank you for staying with me. But you ought to get some rest."

"Aislynn, you died three times on me. I have sent Owen to bed, Diana has even crashed out finally. She'll probably be up in ten minutes to check on you again though," Susan chuckled. "Oh! wait! There was something she wanted me to tell you. We found Farian and rescued the Time Lords in stasis on the Command Centre!"

Aislynn's eyes flooded. Tears overflowed onto her cheeks and she made no attempt to quell them.

"You found them," she whispered. "Well done. I was afraid no one would ever…" She couldn't go on.

"I assume that you were ordered not to tell anyone at all?" Susan asked with a sympathetic look.

"Among… many other orders, yes."

"Well, I yelled at Farian about that. There aren't a lot of things that make me incandescently angry, but usurping the free will of a sentient being is one of the big ones." Susan glowered just thinking about it.

"I doubt… I will ever have free will again," she mused. "But on very rare occasions… it is pleasant to see something happen that I had wished for."

"Nonsense, that's what we're working on, you know. Koschei and Guinn are doing everything they can to undo the command aspect of the curing Nanites. The new ones don't have that element in them at all and once we've filtered out the last Dalek ones, we can remove the old Time Lord ones as well," she asserted. "I'm not leaving you like that!"

Aislynn put a shaking hand over her eyes and just cried.

"Hush now, just rest, Aislynn. You're still not out of danger and I need you to conserve your strength."

"Lady A!" Diana shouted as she came in, balancing a tea tray, which she almost dropped as she ran over to Aislynn. "You're awake!"

Aislynn calmed a little, summoning a smile for her.

"My dear girl." Diana took her hand.

"Hey, no crying now, you're going to be okay. Susan is super smart, you hear me? She'll get it all fixed."

"You have the faith of the very young," Aislynn smiled at her.

"Young and smart," Diana said, nodding knowingly. "Oh! And I brought tea! Um… I don't know what kind you liked, so I brought one of each!"

"She's right too, I am going to get it all fixed," Susan agreed, beaming approvingly at Diana. "She's not as young as all that either, you know! She's at least two hundred."

Aislynn couldn't sit up well; but Diana solicitously helped her with both positioning and cup.

"You'd do well as a nurse, you know?" Susan complimented her and poured out the tea for them.

"I dunno," Diana said doubtfully. "If I could have done anything I might have liked to study art."

"Well, you should go to the Academy then, they have an excellent art program," Susan told her, while shifting the medical equipment a bit to make room for the tea table.

"Here, you have some tea too… whoops!" The addition of tannins to her system had all but knocked Aislynn out cold, and now Diana helped her back to bed to sleep, then scrubbed her own eyes. "Sound asleep. She really scared me, I thought..." but she shook her head and scrubbed her eyes, and took her own cup. "I owe you Susan, and I'll never forget it."

"You really don't owe me at all, Diana. I have my duty as a doctor, as well as the fact that my people did terrible things to you, Diana. We owe you, not the other way around. I mean, how many centuries did you spend in the Loop? Well, that's how much we all owe you," Susan replied, looking a bit grim.

"Mmm, yes," admitted Diana. "But, I'm out now, and I have friends, and I'm basically okay. I mean, Jake-77 still says I need to see a therapist or something, so I'll do that but, I'm basically okay. And yes, the whole project was the definition of suck, but without it I wouldn't exist, and I like existing." She thought that over. "Especially with Jake-77."

"I understand that, Diana," Susan replied. "That doesn't change that you are owed. When we get back, talk to Tomoko about the idea of 'reparations'. I know Grandfather was already working on a trust fund for you lot, to pay for education and job training and such."

"Tomoko says we aren't pressing charges though," Diana looked alarmed. "Against Farian? No! He used to read to us!"

"This isn't about that," Susan assured her. "It's that in Gallifreyan society all children are owed an education and a certain amount of care. You never got the things you would need to function outside the Loops, so we owe that to you, you see?"

"Oh, that makes sense. I'll ask Tomoko when I get back." She paused. "And how does the Time Lord thing work, for that matter?"

"Which part?" Susan asked in confusion.

"Um… I don't know. Will she have to be gone for a long time? Will she still be herself when she wakes up? Can she have children then?"

"Ah, you mean turning her into one. No, she won't be gone very long, yes, she'll still be herself and yes, she'll be able to have children," Susan answered.

Diana scowled, but in a thoughtful way, not an angry way.

"I don't know if Jake-77 wants children. If he does, I suppose I'll have to do it too."

"You can always adopt you know, or I could whip you up a baby in a bucket, with a bit of each of your genetic material," Susan replied thoughtfully. "If you turned into a Time Lord, you'd outlive him by a very great deal. I am trying at this point to figure out how to turn you human, so you can have the same lifespan as his."

"Yes," Diana agreed, "That's the ticket. That's what I want."

"I have been working on it," Susan replied. "In my copious spare time." She glowered at the walls. "Someday we won't be in crisis mode for five minutes and I can get some bloody work done!"

"Nah, by then your whatsis-energy will have recovered, and you'll be raising your children. Like Jenny!"

She shook her head, looking sad.

"No, that's going to take a rather long...oh!" Susan sat bolt upright suddenly. "Professor Boma!" She jumped up, looking excited. "I'm so used to being the only Doctor around! I was still thinking that way!" She grinned at Diana and ran around the bed to hug her. "Oh, you're brilliant!"

Diana beamed.

"See? Everything is going to be fine, Susan, I'm telling you. It's going to work out. You watch!"

"Shh! Don't say that!" Susan hushed her, looking around the room like someone might hear. "Every time someone says that, the next thing I know, there's a universe shattering crisis!"

"Susan!" Diana looked at her seriously. "There's always going to be a universe shattering crisis. But let me tell you something; you can't let yourself be bullied by the latest crisis-du-jour. You've gotta get out there and tell yourself it will be all right anyway. Then you go out and make it happen." She beamed at her. "And I'll help. We all will."

"Diana, I've been doing this for five hundred years now! I want a bloody vacation! I want a warm beach, my husbands beside me, and at least a week where all I have to do is cuddle and kiss!" she replied.

"Ha! You and me both, girlfriend!" Said Diana ruefully, and then added. "Although Jake-77 said we would take a honey-vacation soon, so there's that."

"A honeymoon?" Susan asked with a smile. "Really?"

"Yes, that's it."

"So, when's the wedding?"

"What's a wedding?"

"Diana, a honeymoon is a trip you take after you get married. After you have a ceremony where you promise to be together forever and exchange rings, for humans, or use the ribbon, for Time Lords, to show that you have made a commitment to each other. To become husband and wife, or husband and husband, or wife and wife, or in my case, husband and wife and husband," she explained.

"But Jake and I already promised. Oh, but there was no ring. Does that mean it doesn't count?" She looked distressed at that thought, then her face brightened. "That's what they mean by a ribbon-cutting! Did you do that already with Guinn and Koschei?"

"No, of course it counts! A ribbon cutting is something else. I did have a wedding with Koschei, but not with Guinn yet, which I really ought to rectify," she answered. "When he said you'd have a honeymoon, Jake was essentially talking about marrying you."

"That's wonderful," Diana looked rather dreamily. "Yes, I want to do that right away. I didn't know there was a ring, I'll have to get him a ring."

"Yes, we'll go shopping. He'll need a nice one. I'll need to talk to Guinn and Koschei about a binding ceremony as well. Maybe we can combine our receptions... no, it's your one and only day, we should make it special and just about you two," Susan mused and then grinned at her. "This is going to be an amazing party! Seventy-four bridesmaids!" she laughed.

* * *

"A more interesting question is, now that you know all of this about the terrorists, what are you going to do?" Tomoko asked Dar, leaning back in her chair and studying him.

"Yes. that is an even more interesting question," he sighed, rubbing at his chin.

Tomoko was thoughtful for a while.

"So, am I hearing that you need something hacked?"

"Oh no, I would never do anything of an illegal, or even quasi-legal nature," he assured her with a wide innocent gaze. "But, you should come look at my computer system and tell me what you think. You're an expert, after all, you can advise me as to upgrades."

"Sure." She stood, slipping back on her shoes, but left the jacket. "Let's do it."

He got up, towering over her, picked up her jacket, and then turned to walk casually out of the room.

"I think you'll like the set-up, though you may have some suggestions for better hardware."

"Sure, let's take a look." She paused to look at him. "Although, I oughtn't to go just jacking into some strange guy's chair whom I hardly even know." Her eyes twinkled at him, clearly amused. "Maybe I could talk to Susan, if you wanted… see if she would put in a good word for you. Vouch for your character." She winked playfully, but she was only half-teasing him.

"Kind of you, but no lies you tell her are likely to penetrate. She already knows me far too well," he told her, with the air of a penitent sinner confessing.

"I was going to tell her the truth," Tomoko smirked, "But, let's see the set up. Lead the way."

He bowed and extended an arm to her.

"Allow me to escort you, my Lady," he teased, his eyes dancing in amusement and he showed her to a section of hallway that looked like all the others. "My domain," he informed her and then escorted her through the wall and into a computer centre.

"Very nice, I like the door," Tomoko smiled. Her eyes went everywhere at once, looking at things, lighting here and there before moving on.

"Yes, the best part is that if you aren't on the approved list, you'll simply bang on the wall and not be able to get in." He nodded and gestured her towards a large computer that was softly humming. "The aforementioned overworked AI. A crystal array mainframe."

She nodded. "Crank the A/C, willya?" She went over to look at it.

He reached under a desk and pulled out a parka, before he dropped the temperature in the room. She exhaled slowly, her breath misting as it left her lips.

"Better… okay, let me clear and we'll see what's what." Her eyes rolled back briefly. When they returned to their usual positions they were almost painfully bright. "Better," she said again, and began examining the machinery.

Dar simply started working, pulling up files and making notes, correlating the economic situation on Hesperian and the resultant outbreak of combat in its colony worlds.

Tomoko stepped back and nodded.

"It's not bad… how would you feel about doing a bit of reorganization?"

"Suit yourself, just leave my desk alone, I have it optimised," he told her absently, his attention on the content of a diplomatic note from Ambassador Pouncetrifle to one adjunct of his.

"Don't think you are fooling me," she said, pulled up a chair, and got comfortable. "I know you are really watching." She pulled a cord from the side of the mainframe, plugged it into the jack behind her ear, and a moment later was slumped in the chair with her eyes closed.

"Nonsense my dear, just keeping in practice is all," he assured her.

She was gone for perhaps five minutes. Her temperature flared hard, but was counteracted by the frigid air. At length she reached up, detached the cord, and stretched her neck.

"Try that."

A few moments later, downloads began coming through. Tomoko, it seemed, had been busy.

"Thank you, my Lady," he replied and began paging through the documents.

She had indeed reordered a lot of the results of the AI, clustering them in solid probability vectors, setting up little spider-webs of who-knew-whom with various notes on positions, hobbies, jobs, and relationships. It was nice clean work. Some of them had even been given nicknames. "Likes-to-live-dangerously," for example, was having affairs with no less than four individual women, collectively dubbed, "The Drone Lovers."

Dar nodded, it was competent work, with training she'd have the knowledge to find the data he particularly needed. This could really work out well, he decided.

* * *

The Doctor, Darginian, and Tomoko got off of the elevator at Torchwood and flashed their badges at the floor's security guard, who eyed them narrowly, but let them pass.

"Doc, you ready?" Dar asked and he nodded. Tomoko grinned at him and gave him a thumb's up.

"It'll be interesting to see what she says," Tomoko told him with a look of anticipation.

"Oh yes, I do really want to hear her opinion," the Doctor agreed, rubbing his hands together.

"Hmm," Dar murmured and they all filled into the conference room.

Cassie and Mike were already sitting there and looking curious about Tomoko.

"You look like Diana, only different," Mike told her.

"Oh? Different in what way?

"I like your hair cut better and your face is thinner," Mike replied. "You also stand completely differently."

"Well Diana cuts her hair with her knife, but has never figured out to do it properly. My face is thinner because I had to convert some body mass a while back." She thought about the last bit. "I think we stand differently because we think about different things," she mused.

"Makes sense," Mike agreed.

"This is Tomoko, she's training to be an analyst," Dar explained. "Tomoko, this is Cassie Chesterton and Mike Moore."

"Chesterton?" the Doctor asked suddenly. "What's your father's name?"

"Uh... Ian," she told him in surprise.

"Is your mother's name Barbara?" the Doctor continued and Cassie nodded. "Were they school teachers at Coal Hill Elementary?"

"How did you know that?" she asked and he grinned broadly.

"I'm just that good," he replied and Cassie blinked at him in surprise and confusion and then they all fell silent, as Dar dialled in to the Shadow Proclamation.

* * *

The Doctor watched the Shadow Architect as Dar showed her the symbol that Aislynn had found on the bodies in the alleyway.

"I do know what it is, sadly," the Architect sighed.

Dar sat at the conference table, the Doctor next to him, with Tomoko, Cassie, and Mike, on the other side of it and a hologram of the Shadow Architect projected in the centre of the table.

"That symbol, where was it found?" the Architect asked them and Dar frowned.

"On the persons of several individuals, presently in our custody, who assaulted a Time Lord on Earth," he explained and the Architect looked unhappy.

"Do you know what it is, Architect?" the Doctor asked with the tone of voice of a man who knows the answer to the question, but is willing to play the game for now.

"Yes," she answered and her shoulders slumped. "It means that your assaulted Time Lord is on a hit list. There is a price on their head. If this first attempt failed, others will certainly follow." She fingered the symbol and shook her head. "This is a Don Marking. It marks the bearer as being under the protection of one of the Dons of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe," she explained. She looked distinctly unhappy to be the bearer of bad news.

"That's some serious muscle," Dar muttered and the Doctor frowned deeply.

"Which Don, exactly?" he asked.

"The Mighty Jagrafess, whoever it may be just now," she grumbled.

"You don't know?" Dar asked in surprise.

"I doubt anyone knows, besides the top five Dons themselves. The Dons don't exactly pose for pictures and the top ones are very careful not to let their identities be known. Their own staffs and underlings don't even know who they really are. They are disguised, often wearing a shimmer, or other shielding device, or arranging to run everything through virtual conferencing."

"Then, how do they know they're getting orders from the right person?" the Doctor asked. "I could walk up and say it was me and that they had to hop to it and they wouldn't know any different!"

"They have signals, signs, counter-signs, and other forms of verification," the Shadow Architect said with a shrug. "We're not sure exactly how it all works, honestly, as most officers that have tried to figure it out end up in very small chunks spread over a very wide area."

"Why would they care about us, though?" the Doctor asked.

"Bad for business," Dar answered.

"What do you mean?"

"That's all it is to them, business. Things are either good for business or bad for it," Dar explained. "If it's good for business, its left alone, or even encouraged a bit, if its bad for business, that's it, it's removed. Nothing personal, just dealt with."

"It's personal for me," the Doctor muttered.

Dar pressed a button and sent a packet of information to the SPHQ, with a grimace on his face.

"That's the evidence from Charlie's flat, and the DNA information from Susan," he explained and she nodded.

"The DNA should be helpful, we'll run it through our database and compare it to that of known associates of the Mighty Jagrafess," she told them.

"Thank you, we look forward to hearing the results," the Doctor informed her.

She nodded and cut the connection and the Doctor leaned back in his chair.

"I've had to deal with those people before," Dar complained. "I did not enjoy it."

"Dar, how exactly are we 'bad for business'?" the Doctor asked and Cassie looked up at him with a smile.

"You're not. I mean yeah, you would be, if they knew about you lot, but they can't know much about you."

"So, you think someone hired them?" Dar asked.

"Or suggested to them that we would be 'bad for business' and made it convincing."

"So, we have found one spoke in the wheel," Dar muttered.

"Now we have to chase down the rest of the cart," the Doctor grumbled.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16 - Family Dinner

Diana ran into the Doctor as she was on her way back from the Trans Mat from Earth. She was yawning a bit, but she saw him and hugged him at once.

"There you are! Oh, Doctor! Susan says she is going to live! I didn't think she was going to make it, but she pulled through!"

"That's wonderful! Who are we talking about?" he asked, with a smile.

"Aislynn! She went into crisis while we were on the station."

"That's terrible! I'm glad that she's doing better," the Doctor replied. "Susan is a brilliant doctor and I'm not just saying that because I'm her grandfather."

"Speaking of Susan, she gets a vacation! She saved Aislynn's life, she gets anything she wants. How do we make that happen?"

"Well, I did promise you all a vacation when we were stuck on that bloody ice world. Oh! I'm arranging a rescue for that planet, by the way. I'm still researching the rest of the Loops as well," he told her. "So, yes, a vacation to Apalapucia!"

"Does it have a beach? It has to have a beach! Er… and a ribbon. Well, no, I suppose we can bring ribbons. If it has a beach, it's fine."

"It has a number of really nice beaches," he assured her. "A ribbon? I take it Susan's going to make an honest man out of Guinn?" he teased.

"I guess so," she said. "It's a ribbon-ceremony-thing." She paused, thinking it over. "I wish Aislynn could go too. She's still really, really sick, though."

"Well, we can't go anywhere for a bit anyway, we have to do something about those Bubbles, Rose is getting really worried about them. In fact, we were thinking about toddling off to Logopolis to chat up the some Mathematicians there, see what they think."

"Why not chat up Aislynn? She could have a teleconference and maybe…"

"Because she's really, really, sick, and I don't want Susan chiding me for tiring her patient," he replied.

"Okay," she said easily. "I was just thinking… maybe we could do something like that to coax her to put her toes back in the water. So to speak."

"Diana, she's a Singer, she never took her toes out of the water, it's part of who and what she is," he told her with a gentle smile. "She could no more stop doing maths than you could stop running about."

"No, that's not what I mean. I didn't mean about the math. I meant about the Time Lords."

"Oh! Yes, I can see that!" the Doctor agreed suddenly. "Right, good point. Well, that's simple, I'll just send Taydin along, shall I?"

"Is he immune? Oh, no, wait, Susan said she gave him booster shots too. That would be fine then. I just…" She thinned her lips, thinking hard. "Not all Time Lords are bad. You taught me that. I think Aislynn used to know that, but I think she's sort of forgotten lately."

"I talked to Koschei about that and they told me that the Nanites clouded her mind, made her paranoid and distrustful, not her fault at all. Once she's got them cleared out, she'll be right as rain," he assured her.

"Okay then," she mused. "Do you need any bodyguards for Logopolis? I might know one who is for hire," she beamed up at him hopefully.

"You may certainly come along," he promised her. "After all, someone needs to keep Tomoko out of trouble!"

"Keep Tomoko out of trouble? Are you kidding? We need to keep you out of trouble! You are your daughter's father!"

"My dear girl, I might ask you to accomplish something difficult, but I would never ask the impossible of you!" he laughed and hugged her, before he hustled her back into the Trans Mat and they popped up to the Line House. "Now, come along, it's dinner time!"

* * *

A streak zipped by, as Jenny launched herself at her Daddy, and then squealed in joy at the sight of Diana.

"You're here! We're having chicken fingers and honey mustardy dip stuff!" she announced gleefully and quickly hugged Diana.

"Chicken fingers?" Diana picked her up and gave her a toss, just for the fun of it, and then caught her and held her upside-down. "When was the last time you saw a chicken with fingers?"

"Abraxis!" Jenny told her. "They have four fingers there and I liked their gloves! So funny!" she squealed, having a ball. "But these aren't really real chicken fingers!"

"Not real?" Masha turned her right side-up, but didn't put her down yet. "You mean we are having fake chickens? Imposter chickens?"

"Actually, yes," the Doctor told her. "All the meat is vat grown, rather than coming from an actual animal. We haven't really got enough infrastructure to support a lot of animal farming here yet. Besides, most of the Time Lords are used to eating the vat grown stuff. It tastes just as good and if you only like dark meat, you can just grow that," he explained with a shrug.

"Hear that?" Diana said to Jenny. "It's official! We are having imposter chicken fingers! Wraaaaaaa!" She tossed Jenny up, ran in a circle, and tickled her ears, before setting her down with a grin.

"They're really good though," Jenny told her and ran for the dining room, laughing.

"All successful imposters are good," she said grinning, holding up a finger to emphasize her point. She stopped abruptly and looked at the Doctor.

"What about Jake-77?"

"In the dining room, no doubt, he's always eager for a decent meal," the Doctor teased.

"Especially now," she said ruefully, and headed inside to find him.

"Yes, he does seem to really appreciate food even more these days" the Doctor laughed and followed her in, where a very large group was sitting and waiting for food.

Jake got up and gave her a kiss and she kissed him back, but hugged him hard, much harder than normal, before sitting down. Donna and Wilf waved and greeted her and a group of people she'd not met before were there as well, though she did remember Darginian, and of course she already knew Tomoko, who was sitting next to Dar.

"Hi Di!" Tomoko waved.

"This is Romana, her husband James, you know Freeya, but this is my wife's younger brother, Toby, along with Davian, Myrdin, Rillmar, Justinian, and Assiloren, and some of the empty seats are for Susan and the Koscheis, who will be along shortly."

"Nice to meet all of you," Diana smiled and listened to a wave of polite responses. "This looks like a big crowd. Is this the usual dinner or is today a special occasion?"

"Actually, we're shy a few," the Doctor told her. "Ellasira and Malcolm can't make it tonight, neither can Pete and Jackie, plus Terelinian and his fiancee and several others. This is a quiet family dinner," he teased with a grin.

"I doubt we'll see Adie either," mused Diana thoughtfully. If it looked like a large crowd to her, and Diana liked crowds, but she imagined it would be terrifying to Adie, who was shy of meeting too many people at once.

"Well, Taydin is under strict orders to bring her along, but he never listens to me, so we'll see," the Doctor sighed.

A moment later, a tall man with blue-gold eyes entered with Adie's arm tucked in his, he escorted her to her place, nodded at everyone, and sat down, much to Diana's surprise.

* * *

Adie sat quietly with her hands in her lap and smiled shyly, but looked quite petrified.

Freeya was sitting next to her on the other side and looked up and smiled at her. She could sense that the adult was shy and a bit scared and her heart went out to her. She looked vaguely familiar, but it was hard with all the wounding in her to be sure.

"Hi, I'm Freeyalandria of the Prydonians, how are you?" she introduced herself.

"Hello Freeya," Adie replied with a wan smile. "You met me before, briefly. My name is Adrya. I've regenerated since the last time we spoke."

"I thought I knew you, but I wasn't sure, your energy is different," she replied. "I'm pleased that your transition to a new form was successful," she recited the correct words politely.

"Yes," Adie said simply, though it was not to be denied that her shoulders hunched a bit. "How are you?" Freeya decided to quickly change the subject to something less fraught.

"I've got two Koscheis to teach me about engineering!" she enthused. "Though, the new one is even shyer than the old one, which is funny, cause I thought there was no one more shy than he was. I like the new one though. Guinn. He's funny, he gets sad a lot though," she replied tilting her head and contemplating the vagaries of adults.

"What does he do? This new Koschei?"

"Not much really. He won't build stuff at all, gets this weird look on his face when I ask about it too. He's happy to teach me though, showed me a better way to attach molybdenum wires to the nano-assemblers," she told her. "He mostly advises Koschei and fetches stuff, though."

"The old Koschei… what does he think about the new one?" Adie kept her gaze quietly focused in Freeya's direction, which she guessed was because this adult was so shy.

"He likes him, but I think he feels sorry for him too, Guinn's really shy and sad all the time. He makes funny jokes though, he thinks I won't notice the sad, if he keeps me laughing," she confided. "I don't tell him that I can still see it though, he's trying so hard." She shrugged and trailed off, realizing that maybe she'd said too much.

"I think perhaps he doesn't want you to worry."

"I know, my parents were the same way, always telling me things would be okay..." her thoughts turned towards her family and, as usual, she felt that tightness in her chest. "Sorry, let's talk about something else. The weather is unseasonably dry, I hear," she said in imitation of Susan's tone of voice and Adie smiled.

"I once read about a world where the rain fell from the ground to the sky, and not the other way around. I always thought something like that would have been interesting to see."

"Probably gets up your nose though," Freeya said, her eyes squinted as she thought about it. She was already thinking about how to build an umbrella that protected you from the bottom up.

"Ha, it probably would at that," Adie gave her a smile of amusement. "Tell me, is there a world you would particularly like to see someday?"

"Hm... I just want to go to the Sargasso Point, to see all the ships," she sighed. "Koschei won't let me though, he says its too dangerous, because some of the ships have defensive screens and stuff, so I have to wait until I'm older." She rolled her eyes. "I am older already, but he still says that."

"I am afraid you will have to be older yet," Adie said, but patted her hand. "But it'll come, being older." She looked very sad.

"The adults all say that, but then they tell me not to be in such a hurry to grow up," she groused. "Two hundred is soooooooo far away!"

"Only from this side," Adie smiled at her.

"I know, but all the fun stuff is on the other side," she pointed out. "I can't skip school and go to Abraxis, but Susan can. Though, she went because there was a plague or something, so that wasn't so much fun." She paused and looked around at the table. "None of them have a lot of fun really, except the Doctor and Rose, so maybe it's not so bad."

Voices in the corridor announced the arrival of Susan, Koschei, and Guinn, who came in together, the former Master looking very uncomfortable, as he was dragged to the table and forced to sit. Susan and Koschei sat him between them, Adie noticed.

"Hello, Susan, Koschei, Guinn," the Doctor called out and the others greeted them as well, though Romana's greeting was noticeably chily.

"Romana's nice, but very High House," Freeya whispered to Adie. She didn't like how Romana treated Koschei, or the suspicious looks Andred and Leela always gave them, but she was too well raised to say so.

"I see," Adie said.

* * *

"Hello, Adie," Susan greeted her with a smile and Adie thought she looked half dead from exhaustion. Koschei nodded at her, though his discomfort around Romana's aura of suspicion was evident. Guinn was looking as if he would rather be anywhere in the world other than here, and didn't look at anyone, or tried not to.

"Hello, Susan, Koschei, Guinn," Adie said quietly.

"We've been doing some work on your TARDIS, she's nearly ready," Koschei told her softly and Guinn nodded at her.

"Adyra," he muttered softly and then dropped his head back down, Romana's glare making him wince a bit.

She gave a half-nod.

"Thank you for your efforts. I am surprised to hear that the repairs are going that well. It took so much damage in the Loop."

"Well, a lot had already been repaired, so it was mostly getting enough taken care of that the self-repair module could fix the rest," Koschei told her.

"The damage from the Manifold chewing on the outside was the hardest," Guinn added with a grimace.

"I hope they are gone," Adie mused. "I was walking to the library today, and I startled a small leapbug, a genuine one, and it jumped to another bush and I just about had a hearts attack."

"I find that I check the colour now," Guinn admitted. "Anything silver makes me nervous."

"I feel exactly the same way. I had no idea there were so many vaguely-grayish-coloured insects in the world."

They both nodded.

"I could always re-engineer all bugs on Gallifrey to be brightly coloured," Susan suggested with a grin.

"No," Adie said. "I am all done with re-engineered bugs of any description."

Guinn and Koschei both chuckled at that and Susan rolled her eyes.

"That was a joke, altering the protective colouration of a species could easily lead to their extinction and the upset of the whole ecosystem that they belong to," she explained.

Adie looked at her teacup almost ashamedly.

"I know," she said. "The irony is I knew that was a joke. I recognized it. But I'm… struggling with humour, I suppose."

"Well, it would have helped if it was actually funny," the Doctor teased and Susan shot him a glare.

"Which reminds me," Susan turned and looked at Adie. "There actually is one more doctor left on Gallifrey, but he's a regeneration specialist, does energy rebalancing, not the biological end of things. I'd like you to go see him. He can give you a proper post-regen check-up."

"I'll see him on your recommendation."

"Thank you. He really is very good, he was one of the top ten in his specialty," Susan told her.

"Thank you, Susan," Adie said simply. She knew vaguely what energy rebalancing was, but she'd never been to one before. The Tower had liked her out of balance and the Master... well, he wouldn't have understood the problem, so consumed with his own loss as he had been.

"He's got a very nice young lady, a mathematician," Romana added, looking up and smiling at Adie. "You look familiar, have we met before?"

"She's my niece," the Doctor told her. "Brax's youngest." Romana opened her mouth and then shut it again.

"Sorry about your father," she said, instead of whatever she had been about to say, and whether she meant that she was sorry for Adie's loss, or simply sorry that her father had been an arse was hard to tell.

"It's all right," Adie murmured, feeling horribly exposed. "I don't remember him."

"Not much of a loss for you," Susan assured her. "Pompous, arrogant, rude, and acted like he was King of the Universe. A truly horrible man. He only cared about his antiquities and thought people were a nuisance to deal with." She shook her head. "I don't suppose you remember, but he took me to see you when I was about five and then yelled at me because I got scared." She rolled her eyes.

"I've heard," she said. "I am hoping not to take after him."

"So far, so good," Susan told her with a smile.

Adie smiled back, then turned her attention to her own plate.

* * *

The Doctor was watching the meal progress with great attention, though he hoped that he was disguising that with his chatter and the messy process of feeding Jamie. Guinn looked petrified, Romana looked suspicious, James looked uncomfortable, and Adie looked like she could vanish at any moment. Taydin sat stiffly beside her, guarding her like a sentinel knight.

Diana and Jake were eating heartily. The kids were chatting and eating, though Justinian, he noted, was sitting next to Donna, looking as though he could start crying at any moment. Assiloren was sitting in sullen silence and once more the Doctor wondered what he should do about the boy.

There was a lot to do to heal this group up, add in the new lot as well and he was up to his eyebrows in in traumatized Time Lords.

"Adie, how's that research going?" Donna asked. "On the Sistron Articles?"

"I believe I will have everything pulled together by the deadline," Adie said. "It's complicated stuff, but I am given to understand that most legal matters are. Taydin has been helping," She smiled at him shyly. "And of course the Mashas are always ready to fetch anything I should happen to need."

"Damn straight," Diana chimed in.

"All right then," Donna agree, looking baffled.

"Oh," Diana looked at Donna, "You did hear about the whole Lens thing right?"

"No, I missed that bit," Donna returned. "Did someone lose their specs?"

"Wilf didn't tell you?" Diana looked at Wilf in genuine surprise.

"Haven't had time, dear, I had a class to teach this morning on the geology of Gallifrey," he told her with a shrug.

"I mean, I knew you were gone a bit, but I must have missed all the excitement. Again," Donna groused.

"Oh. Well it turns out that I am one of a series of clones," Diana said easily, "So there's, like, seventy-four of us around somewhere. We're all eventually going to Karn… well, they are. I'm staying here. I think Tomoko is staying too, and one or two others."

"Well, that's nice, you'll have a nice big family for the wedding, eh?" she suggested with a grin at Jake, who chuckled.

"True!" Jake mused, but didn't look unhappy about it.

"Mmm, I talked to Susan about that today," Diana said to Jake.

"Good, we do need to start planning," he agreed. "You'll need a ring."

"I thought you needed a ring! I was going to get you one right away. I already figured out how big your fingers are by your trigger settings."

"We both need them, we exchange rings, you see," he told her with a grin. "I was kinda thinking of a quick civil ceremony," he began, before he saw the way Donna was now glowering at him. "But a nice wedding, with a reception afterwards, sounds perfect," he quickly corrected and Donna smiled.

"Whatever you want," Diana beamed at him. "We'll do that. Oh, and we can do it on Apalapucia, it's supposed to have a beach."

"Sounds good to me," Jake agreed, after checking Donna's eyebrow for any sign of disapproval.

"Well, that's settled then," the Doctor chuckled and they went back to eating.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 - Love and Entropy

"Greetings fair damsel, I have come to suck your blood!" Owen teased and Aislynn gave him a smile.

It was probably too early for her to be on her feet; but she had been so insistent that Owen had consented, if somewhat reluctantly. He set up the haemoglobin purification system with practised ease, slotting the filters into place with a grin.

"Got a new grade for you, even. Their engineer made up an ultra-fine mesh, just for you! You should feel honoured," he teased. "They are calling it Aislynn grade. Susan says we still need to filter for the next couple of weeks."

"I feel…" She looked away for a moment. "Owen, I have only recently come to realize how much I endangered you… your entire race. I could have wiped out your species, and I…" She looked torn. "I can tell that the treatments are working, because I can think properly again… I cannot believe I did that. I am so ashamed."

"Yeah, I got an earful from the Doctor on the subject, good grief that bloke can natter on, I think I got the whole history of the Time War, the Daleks, and some fellow named Rassi-something from him, though it hard to say, since he says history changed a lot and I wasn't sure which bits actually happened. Anyway, he said you were not responsible for what all they shoved in your head," Owen told her with a shrug.

"Well, thank you for that," she smiled at him. "For what it is worth, I do feel much better. However, I have no intention of leaving the Elysium again until it is definitely safe for the local population."

"Which, according to Susan, should be in a few days," he chuckled, pleased to be able to break that news to her. "I'll send her today's results and we'll see what she says. I swear, you lot are all taking those 'guilt pills', because Susan basically apologized for ever having to nap, or eat," he groaned. They were all so hyper-responsible.

"As soon as I am well enough, I intend to volunteer to assist with off-planet duties," she smiled at him. "Although I believe I owe you and Katie a trip to make up for all of this."

"That would be... rather nice," he admitted and it occurred to him that he might end up as the first Welshman in space. The thought amused him greatly.

"Also, I should very much like to invite Scout Commander Taydin for a visit. He specialized in these sorts of vessels, you know, and I am hopeful that he could give us an opinion on the self-repair systems."

"Oh! The Doctor said something about him too," Owen remembered with a start. "We are not to allow him to Sing, period, end of statement. He Sang an entire Dalek Fleet to its destruction and, how did he say it... balanced it by creating three planets and draining his own life's energy." Owen was baffled about all that, but the Doctor had been really insistent. "That Singing he did in the hospital for you? It could have killed him."

"Yes," Aislynn looked intensely sad. "I heard the change in his voice. But Singing… it isn't like that. What the Doctor wants, ultimately, is not possible. Taydin is a Singer, and that is that." She rubbed her chin as she contemplated. "However, it might be possible to consider a rebalancing…" She looked very thoughtful indeed.

"Can you fix him?" Owen asked hopefully. He'd liked Taydin when he'd met him on the Elysium, he was the sort of bloke you just knew would take a bullet for a mate, and Owen didn't want to see him shred himself apart.

Aislynn reached out for her tablet and tapped on it thoughtfully. Circular Gallifreyan symbols flowed here and there, a cascade of patterns. Finally she double-tapped one, pulled it up, made it bigger.

"Tricky," she mused, "Three planets and his life force you say? I think… hmmm…" She considered. "Perhaps it is time that he was the subject of a Song, or more probably a number of Songs, rather than the Singer of them… let me work on it."

"That would be brilliant!" Owen enthused. "Now, let's get you healthy again, so we can get out there and save some lives. The Doctor says he has work for us when we're ready," he told her and she looked very surprised.

* * *

The Doctor stood in the TARDIS nursery and smiled down at the coral in excited anticipation. His TARDIS was headed for the next stage.

Rose was murmuring under her breath, the Block Transfer Mathematics rolling out of her, like a thunder of probability, reality rearranging itself to fall in line with her numbers. He could see the energy pulsing around her, flaring to the music that underlay everything, coaxing the song to shift a trifle, adding a harmony to it that brought the shimmering coral forwards until it was ready.

"Now, we just need to build a console," the Doctor crowed, "and I'll have my girl again!"

"Great, I'm helping create the other woman," Rose chuckled.

"Not in the least, darling wife," he assured her. "You are much more pleasant to cuddle up to."

"Thank you for that, dear," Rose laughed. "I'm glad that you think so."

"How's it going with the Bubbles?" he asked next and she frowned.

"Poorly, the maths are really looking rather grim," she told him and it was his turn to frown.

"How grim are we talking here?"

"A week at most before the first one starts to fall apart and it's a bit too close to Gallifrey, for my peace of mind," she told him.

"Right." He thought hard and then pulled himself up, brushing off his trousers. "I'll get to work with Koschei and Guinn on putting anti-Entropic field generators in place and getting some Entropy shunts built and added into the planetary shields. You see if, between the two of you, you can't figure out some way to stabilize those bubble universes," he told her and she nodded, but looked dubious.

"How is Aislynn doing? Because Malla says that what we really need is her and Taydin up and Singing to make this work."

"She's better, but not well enough for that, I don't think," the Doctor replied. "I'll talk to Susan about that, after I talk to Koschei and Guinn." Rose nodded, looking unhappy.

"I really want a vacation from all of this, soon, please," she told him and he nodded.

"Yeah, I want an end to life threatening crisis for a bit as well," he told her, watching how she rubbed her belly in an absent-minded gesture. It was only a week ago that she'd nearly died and he felt that still in his gut, that terrible fear that he could have lost her. She smiled up at him and he dropped a kiss on her lips before he left, still filled with anxiety and a sense that things were only going to get much worse.

* * *

"For 'us'? My dear Doctor Harper, I had planned on taking you and your wife on a lovely vacation, not into the middle of the front lines," Aislynn protested.

"Yeah, well, I have been informed that Time Lords are 'rubbish all on their own' and need 'full time keepers', or so says Rose Tyler, and I never argue with the Boss' daughter," he chuckled. "So, I have been assigned as your 'companion', with Katie, and Taydin, if he agrees to it." He grinned and shook his head. "Gonna need to put in a few more rooms, I think," he teased.

Aislynn looked almost overwhelmed.

"Why, I… I should enjoy that. I should enjoy it very much." She paused. "You know that… a ship of this size is normally manned by a six-person crew. I believe that she would love having a crew again."

"Well, she's gonna have the best crew in the galaxy," he told her, grinning broadly and so excited he could hardly stand still. The universe was opening before him and the Elysium's medical library as well. Owen wasn't sure he hadn't died in the hospital and gone to heaven.

* * *

On the planet of Logopolis, the Council of Mathematicians was meeting in emergency session. The sandstone walls, with their simple elegant lines gave a feeling of serenity and calm that was conspicuously absent just then.

"Elder Miriam, the situation is terribly grave," Monitor Ruta informed her with a shake of his shaggy white head. His eyes, a worn, faded blue in his heavily lined face, were filled with dread and uncertainty, two things she was quite unused to seeing in him.

"How grave?" she asked.

"The first one will lose cohesion in a week at most, Elder," he explained. "Once that happens, the entropy will explode out of it and take out several parsecs of space. There are several inhabited planets that might end up with a wave coming at them of terrible force and magnitude."

Voices broke out in dismay and fear, others hushed and soothed, and Miriam waved them all to silence with a gesture.

"A week?" she asked with a feeling of dismay. "That's not enough time! We don't have enough Mathematicians to hold that much entropy back in only a week!"

"It gets worse, Elder," Ruta told her with a trembling voice and Miriam braced herself. "There are over a dozen of these pockets of entropy and they are all collapsing. There is a mathematical possibility that some of them might even affect the other pockets, setting off a chain reaction."

Miriam stared at him, her face frozen, her whole mind consumed with the disastrous images that were racing through her brain.

"We need help and we need it quickly," she decided. "Send out a distress Chant."

"It shall be done, Elder," Ruta agreed, looking a bit less nervous.

"Still, I do not know who will come," she murmured to herself as the others filed away. "There are not so many of us as there once were."

For a long time, Elder Miriam sat in the empty assembly room, staring out into the darkening sky and feeling the first stirrings of despair.

* * *

The Doctor walked down the gently curving paths of the Capital city with a frown etched on his face. The War was over, yet it seemed as though the consequences of it would never stop reverberating around them.

He ducked into the workshop and stopped to smile as he saw Guinn bent over the workbench helping Koschei build something, the two of their heads together.

It was funny, because so often the Doctor found that he got along very poorly with his own past selves, yet, Koschei seemed to have little problem dealing with his other self. It was interesting. He wondered if it was because he was so much nicer as a person, or if it was the shared trauma. He turned his head and saw a white lab coat laying across the back of a chair and smiled again. Maybe the answer was much simpler than that.

He stepped into the room and they both looked up at him with identical smiles.

"Hello, Theta," Koschei murmured and Guinn nodded his own greetings.

"Hello Koscheis," he replied, amused by the nickname. "We have a small problem," he continued and they both looked at him in alarm, knowing him far too well to be fooled by his causal air.

"What is it?"

"We need to upgrade the shields on Gallifrey to withstand a force five entropic wave," he told them and they both stared at him in horror for a moment, before they were moving as one person to fetch down parts and start putting together a Entropy Shunt.

He turned to help and then went still, staring at the two of them. Both had golden cords that stretched off and towards Susan, Koschei's a strong rope of great intensity and strength, Guinn's a more fragile string, though it was brighter and thicker now than it had been a week or two ago. He'd expected that, but along with those, there was a second thread of gold that stretched between the two of them, binding them together, even as they were bound to Susan.

In nine hundred years he'd never seen a true three-way bonding before. He'd seen deeply loving and committed pairings with three, four, five, or more, but never had they all been bound to each other like this. The cords had been pink, or sweetly rose coloured, but the golden light of a marriage of the soul...? No, he wasn't sure that this wasn't the first time in all of history.

"So...," he began and then shook his head, deciding that for once he wouldn't pry. "Do you need any parts?" he asked instead and Guinn shook his head.

"We've got everything we need," Koschei told the Doctor, who wondered if his old friends knew just how true that really was.

* * *

Aislynn's door chime alerted her to a visitor, and she allowed herself to be dragged away long enough to see who was outside. By habit, she patted herself down, making sure her silver jumpsuit and emerald green robes were pristine. It would never do to meet a guest with so much as a hair out of place.

Outside, Taydin was standing, arms crossed and looking amused. Owen was standing next to him, talking animatedly, and a slender blonde woman with long hair and a friendly smile was holding Owen's hand. Behind them, in the white robes of a doctor, was the petite ginger, Dr. Susan.

Aislynn opened the door at once, quashing a sudden rising feeling of nervousness. She bowed formally.

"Doctor Susanatrevalar. I remain in your debt. I was so deeply infected that I didn't even realize I had endangered the native population of this world, not until much later. It could have been a horrible disaster. Thank you for preventing it."

"Oh, not to worry, I've got Dar on punishment duty," she retorted and then smiled broadly. "Oh! You're looking so much better!" Susan enthused.

"I'm feeling much better, thanks to you," Aislynn smiled, and then turned to her guests. "Thank you for coming," she told them. "Welcome to the Elysium."

"I'm very glad to finally meet you, Lady Aislynn, I'm Katie Harper by the way, Owen has had nothing but wonderful things to say about you," Katie told her with sparkling eyes.

"He is too kind," she smiled. "It is a delight to have you. I've heard so much about you. I am so glad to meet you at last."

"Well, you saved his life, so I know we'll be friends," Katie replied, smiling. "I hope he only told you the good stuff about me." She laughed and Owen kissed her cheek with a smile.

"Of course, I was saving the bad stuff for after she got to know you," he teased.

"Your poor ship," Susan murmured and patted the console gently. "She's such a dear girl too. Not to worry though, we'll get her fixed up."

"Yes," Aislynn looked distinctly unhappy. "I'm sorry to say she took a great deal of damage during the War; and of course breaking out of the Möbius Loop only compounded the problems."

"You should have seen mine once we escaped the Loops, she looked like a disaster zone," Susan said with a shake of her head. "My husbands have been working non-stop to repair her."

"As have I," Aislynn said, "But I doubt I have had as much success. Unfortunately, mechanical engineering was never my forte once out of the hypothetical stages."

"Luckily, my husbands are the most brilliant engineers, when they are done with mine, shall I send them along to you?" she asked.

"I do hope that won't be necessary, I have imposed so much upon your good will as it is… however, I was hoping that perhaps you would consent to take a look at her, and give your opinion on possible repairs?" This was directed to Taydin, who had been standing quietly.

He nodded and pulled out a notebook that he began typing into and then showed her the display.

"I think that I could get most of it repaired in a few days, but we need to get the self-repair modules up," he wrote.

"Yes, I quite agree. Would you like to take a look at them? I'll be glad to take you on a tour… Katie too, if you are interested," she smiled. "And you as well," she said to Susan. "I expect that Diana has already told you all about everything, which makes me feel obligated to try and give some sort of explanation that makes a bit more sense."

"Don't bother trying to explain to me, Aislynn," Susan waved her off. "My maths are dreadful and I am a terrible engineer. Outside my own field, I'm a bit of a dunce," she told her with a shrug. Taydin made a face at her, but she ignored him. "It's true!"

"I suspect you fail to give your brilliance sufficient credit," Aislynn teased back.

"I'm the only member of my family to fail sixth level maths in a million years," she laughed. "I'm merely being realistic."

"You might ask your grandfather about having to take his flight certification three times," Aislynn winked.

"Oh that I passed first time, highest score in my class, but then I was raised on a TARDIS, so that was hardly unexpected."

"My point," Aislynn smirked.

She took Taydin down the long sloping hallways to the self-repair modules. Susan went with Owen and Katie to the Medi-bay to work on getting it in better shape.

For all of her kind words, she wasn't too steady on her feet yet and Taydin slipped an arm under her elbow to support her. Aislynn, who had always protested a bit when Owen tried to do the same sort of thing, accepted this without demur. For some reason, as odd as it seemed when Owen did it, when Taydin did, it seemed... natural. Aislynn pushed that thought aside and continued the tour.

* * *

The Doctor helped them tow the equipment up to the Torchwood building, Koschei and Guinn still discussing the problem as they walked.

"Do we know how many there are?"

"More than twelve, by Rose's calculations," the Doctor replied.

"Bugger," Koschei muttered. "Not all pointed our way, I hope?"

"Not all of them, no, but rather more than I would like of them, actually," the Doctor muttered.

"That doesn't sound good," Guinn grumbled and Koschei grinned at him.

"My, you're such the optimist," Koschei teased and the Doctor found himself laughing. The irony of the conversation not being lost on any of them.

"Cheering yourself up?" the Doctor asked and Guinn shrugged.

"Well, we started off in the same place," Koschei replied and looked at Guinn with affection and warmth. "Still, we went down such different paths, that we really aren't the same anymore."

"Yes, you had two hundred years of being bound to Susan," Guinn said a touch enviously and Koschei nodded, putting an arm around Guinn and hugging him.

"He also had two hundred years of being Rassilon's whipping boy, just like you did during the War, so that was the same," the Doctor pointed out.

"I had Susan there, in my head, though," Koschei contradicted. "It wasn't the same as all. Guinn got the fuzzy end of the sucker."

"Yes, I'm the Arkytior's back-up plan," he sighed and the Doctor shook his head.

"No. That's not how it works," he disagreed and the other two looked at him in surprise.

"Excuse me?" Guinn asked.

"Look, I went to the Matrix and chatted up the last Arkytior," he admitted and the two Koscheis frowned at him.

"According to her, the Arkytior feels what the Channel feels. So, if Susan hates someone, the Arkytior hates them and if she loves someone, the Arkytior loves them. The fact that she withdrew instantly when you were endangered, Guinn, that tells me that Arista was right. The Arkytior may be a great power, but her motives are Susan's now. She will act on the passions, loves, and angers of your wife," the Doctor explained and they both looked at him in horror.

"Well, then its a good thing she doesn't really hate very easily," Koschei murmured and the Doctor nodded.

"Yes, that's rather a relief, isn't it?" he murmured and they fell silent as they walked the rest of the way.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 - Dissonance and Harmony

The Elysium's self-repair systems really were in terrible shape. In spite of obvious attempts at repair, there were cables and panels strewn here and there, and lights blinking from the depths of the walls in a rather disconsolate way.

"Do you think it can be repaired without a cradle?" Aislynn looked at Taydin with some concern. "As I understand it, no cradles survived the war."

"Doctor is building one, three more months still," he typed. "I could fix this in five minutes if I could still Sing, but by hand it'll take me at least two days." He looked apologetic.

"I've been considering Singing a rebalancing for you," Aislynn told him, as if she herself was in any position to be doing a major Song at the moment.

"Heal first, save your strength," he typed to her, shaking his head fiercely at her.

"I've been speaking to Susan and I don't believe we have the luxury of that sort of time," she countered.

"Not risking you, Aislynn!" he retorted, his fingers tapping on the keys with urgency.

"Nor I you! The risk is far greater for you and I'm a soprano: I can't possibly strike the proper notes required for the repair Song for these systems."

He glowered at her, looking distinctly unhappy.

"You know I am right," she scolded mildly, "And I know it tears your hearts out to see the Elysium this way, just as it tears mine out."

He flushed and looked away, turning to look at the shattered consoles and sparking circuits.

"Lost my wife to the Nanites," he typed finally, his fingers slow and unsteady.

Aislynn looked as if he had swung something heavy into her face.

"Oh, I… I never knew that. I am so sorry."

"Not quite rational about this, my apologies," he explained, not looking at her as he tapped out the words.

Aislynn put a hand on his arm, very gently.

"Forgive me if I speak out of turn. I am sure she loved you deeply," she said, "I think she would have wanted you to be well. I would never force you to do anything; but I believe she would have wanted this."

"Dian was just as stubborn as you, that's for certain," he replied, his lips twisted in a grimace as he wrote back to her.

Aislynn's hands flew to her mouth.

"My teacher… Dian was your wife?" Then she shook her head. "Oh, she'd be dragging you to the Echo Chamber by your ears!"

He nodded, looking rueful, and gave a sort of silent chuckle, before he shrugged.

"Can you show me the maths that you Sang? I believe I should be able to write a rebalancing from it."

He sighed and looked at her with a sheepish expression.

"I've recreated as much as I can, but I Sang it on the fly," he admitted and she was horrified. To extemporaneously Sing, to work out the math, mere moments before singing their translation, was dangerous and most often deadly for the Singer. Taydin was lucky to be alive. He began typing away on the monitor, showing her the maths and she was startled by the complexity of it. That he held it together, even as he was creating it, was stunning.

"I certainly see why you are known as the greatest Singer who ever lived," she told him and he blushed scarlet. "Just a moment, let me see here…" She took the tablet and walked back and forth with it, murmuring to herself. "Yes, I believe this is workable… come with me to the Echo Chamber, I think we can get this sorted, at least part of it…"

He nodded and slipped his hand under her elbow again, supporting her as they walked.

The Echo chamber was round and was one of the few areas of the Elysium that was in semi darkness; all around the walls were sonic cones, designed to transmit sound. In the middle there was a comfortable chair, the sort that would allow the person in it to lean back and rest, a bit like her own hemoglobin chair.

Aislynn hit a switch and several of the cone-shaped walls flipped over to reveal screens. These she lit and began writing on them, covering them with round Gallifreyan text, working her way around from one side of the room to the other. Taydin followed her, reading over her shoulder.

"Here is what I propose. Do you agree?" He frowned and thought for a bit, added a line of the complex notations to one section, and then cocked his head at her, to see if she approved.

That was all it took: a moment later, they were off, comparing notes, writing here and there, erasing sections and redoing them, and enjoying themselves immensely. Taydin was grinning as he worked and he looked like he hadn't had this much fun in ages.

Finally, Aislynn stepped back and reviewed the work.

"I believe that will be quite sufficient… do you concur?" He grinned and nodded, looking pleased. "Let me do the musical transcription…" Again she walked around the room, end to end, drawing musical notation on a parallel set of screens, flipping the mathematical ones back to cones as she transcribed. The second set of screens was maintained by holographic projection, so that the sound waves wouldn't be disturbed by their presence. It would be no mean piece to Sing, but it was mathematically and musically sound, and that was the main thing.

"Ready then?" she smiled at him, not seeming to be daunted by the fearsome musical notations she had just written. He settled into the chair with a nod, looking unconcerned, even though he was obviously far more used to being on the other end of the process.

Aislynn took a deep breath, and began to Sing. This was not like the small Chants she had used earlier with the Nanite infection, this was a complex aria. She worked on the charts, recalculating even as she Sang, tweaking the melody here and there as she sensed alterations in reality responding to her music.

Taydin sat patiently through it, watching with interest.

It was surprisingly long and longer songs were far harder to maintain, the energy drain on her barely recovered body was intense, but finally she sang the last note. She dropped the screens, and took a step back, almost fearfully, hoping that she hadn't caused him further harm through some error of hers.

"You were slightly off cadence in movement three, but I'm not complaining," Taydin told her, his voice slightly raspy, but obviously functional.

She beamed at him.

"It's good to hear your voice."

"It's good to hear my voice, too," he chuckled. "Thank you."

"We will be doing this every other day until you are quite cured," she beamed at him. "Nanites are out of my league, but this is something I can do."

"Very well, my lady," he murmured, eyes twinkling.

"Shall we find the others and tell them the good news?"

"No, let's go have tea, you'll be thirsty and in need of food," he disagreed and began herding her to the kitchen.

"I am rather thirsty," she agreed, and accompanied him to the kitchen.

They sat together, eventually joined by Katie, Owen, and Susan, and for the first time in far too long, happy laughter echoed through the Elysium.

* * *

Gaige sat slumped against the cool stone wall, his hand on the rifle that he had tucked against his shoulder and tried to remember that Time Lords, even exiled ones, didn't show weakness before lesser races.

Not that the last hundred years hadn't seriously eroded the natural arrogance of a Time Lord. He'd started out feeling self-assured and quite certain he'd be going home soon, till now when he felt rather small and lost. His skin was deeply tanned by the three suns that burned pitilessly down on this world, his blond hair had been bleached out to nearly white, his gray eyes were squinted against the light, and he was wondering once again whether there was ever going to be a chance for him to eviscerate Rassilon, preferably with his bare hands.

"Ghost," hissed Captain Rammall and Gaige looked over at him with a faint smile.

"Captain?" he whispered back.

"Can you check the positions of those thrice-cursed mongrels? I don't want to lob munitions at our own soldiers," Rammall asked and Gaige sighed. He nodded and slung the rifle over his back.

It was funny how, wherever he went, he ended up with the same nickname. He'd been 'Ghost' to the CIA and now 'Ghost' was the name he'd earned fighting with the 121st Cavalry. They were the Sultan's finest soldiers and people he'd grown to care about far too much. He'd earned that name by being the best of their scouts, slipping unseen into enemy camps, through their formations, and right under the noses of their sentries, time and again, and returning with such accurate intelligence that some of the more superstitious soldiers considered him a djinn of some sort.

It didn't help that everyone on this world was so dark in colouring that his blond hair was seen as a warning of either a cursed existence, or a sign of favour by the Gods of River and Sand. Gaige was more convinced of the former than the latter these days.

Several of them touched his whitened hair for luck as he passed. Then, he slid into the desert.

Time to hunt.

The camps were more spread out than usual today, and the positioning told him everything. The three factions they were facing were involved in some sort of disagreement.

Gaige slithered along the sand, his clothes designed to make him blend seamlessly with his environment. The secret to his success as a scout was simple. He was endlessly patient. He could lie, perfectly still, for hours. He was seven hundred years old, after all. A day or two of being at rest was nothing to him. He'd once lain under a bush, near a chieftain's tent, for a week, eating rations from his pouch and listening to the man's secret councils, until they decamped and he was left behind.

He used this patience and the knowledge he'd gained over his hundred years here in this environment, to move unseen amongst the dunes. He edged around the camels and horses, making certain he was upwind of them, quieting them with him a telepathic caress, if they grew restive, and edged into the shelter of a dune, blending in like he was a part of the landscape. He was twenty feet from the tent of Adaallah, the Chieftain of the Omara. He could hear her voice snapping orders to her soldiers.

"I told you to take the town, what happened?" she asked. A female voice replied to her.

"The Patar didn't like our strategy. They refused to cross the river on a holy day."

"A holy day? There is no holy day today?" Adaallah growled. A gruff, low, male voice barked a laugh.

"The Patar create holy days whenever their courage fails them."

"Well, we'll see how the Council feels about that," Adaalah snapped back and the others all rumbled agreement.

Many times now, Gaige had heard of a Council spoken of, but he had as yet, not seen any of the members. It was a mystery. He stayed and listened to their plans, before slipping off to confirm the positions of the other attackers.

* * *

"How many Chanters can we put in each shift?" Ebbes asked Ruta with a small frown. She was a tall lanky woman with a strong face and large hands, she looked as through she ought to be clumsy, but was actually a very graceful person.

"Forty?" Ruta suggested. "If we use more than that there won't be enough to keep other services open."

"It's not enough," Ebbes replied with a shake of her head. "It will take at least two hundred Chanters at a time to maintain the level of protection we'll need."

"But... that... Ebbes, our economy will fall apart!" he protested, but it was a weak flutter of resistance, he knew full well what would happen if they didn't stop it.

"Then it will fall apart," she sighed, running a hand through her hair, disordering the neat braids. "We are fighting for our very survival and the survival of all those other worlds and people who are endangered."

"Yes, yes, of course," he answered with a wince. The cost was going to be so high though, he wasn't sure if they would be able to rebuild again once the crisis was over.

"Any response to the emergency beacon?" she asked and he nodded.

"Two Singers and four Chanters from nearby worlds have come," he admitted.

"Six?" she gasped. "That's all? Just six?"

"There aren't many with the gift in all the universe, Ebbes, you know that," Ruta sighed out and she nodded, looking suddenly smaller and very sad.

"We're not going to be able to do this, Ruta," she told him.

"We still have to try," he answered, patting her hand gently.

* * *

It had taken several hours of work, with the assistance of Owen and Susan, to place all of the pieces of the self-repair systems as closely as possible to their proper positions. They were still far from repaired.

Aislynn brought in several soft, floating walls surfaced with the echo cones that they had used earlier in the Echo Chamber. The Elysium was so deeply damaged that even a restructuring of walls, normally a simple matter, was out of the question. It was tiring work for her, but the anti-grav plates connected to the walls provided support for her to lean on as she walked, and she and Katie had more than enough time to walk slowly, and rest briefly between trips with a brief cup of tea. If Katie was irritated by the leisurely pace of the trips, she didn't let on.

Owen brought her a cane to lean on, while Taydin ran through the notes.

Singers rarely Sang in duets; such Songs were extremely complicated to perform. They were, however, terrifyingly effective. The Song needed for the self-repair systems required a vocal range that neither of them possessed alone.

It was the simplest sort of duet, a handoff back and forth from one to the other, only rarely combining voices. Taydin's baritone voice was a treat to hear; smooth as silk, and as luscious as chocolate. Aislynn's soprano was as sweet and clear as a cup of spiced cider on a bitterly cold winter's day.

It wasn't possible to see precisely how or when it happened. At the beginning of the Song, the self-repair systems were dark and silent behind grim and lifeless panels. At the end of the Song, they were humming right along, blinking cheerily away as they set to work with a good humour.

Taydin caught Aislynn's elbow as she sagged uncertainly after the Song.

"You can't exert yourself this much, this quickly," he scolded her with a frown of concern.

"It was worth it," she murmured, "to see the self-repair systems back online!" He helped her to her chair, but by now her voice was thin and weary, and the hand that took the teacup trembled. She hardly seemed to notice. "I have never heard you Sing properly before," she told him. "You are magnificent!"

"It was sufficient," he muttered, with a wave. "I was off cadence twice and slightly flat on the E in the twenty-fourth stanza." He shook his head. "I'm out of practice."

"You only received your Chant this afternoon," Aislynn told him. "I think allowances may be made."

"Nonsense, I used to be able to hit every note after ten minutes of study, I need to practice, get back up to speed," he dismissed her compliment with a shrug.

"I think practice would do us both good," she beamed at him. "Now, we have one final task today: I want to add you as a copilot. Katie, I should very much like to make you your own key." She smiled at them.

"I think we should do all that after your nap, Aislynn," Taydin replied with an arched eyebrow at her.

"No. There is a dissonance. I know you can hear it and you won't convince me it is the unrepaired systems."

"Of course I can hear it, Aislynn and you need to be at your best, if we're going to deal with it, which means taking better care of yourself than you are prone to!" he retorted.

"I think he was much nicer when he didn't talk," Owen teased and Taydin chuckled.

"So, to bed with you. For at least an hour, Aislynn," he ordered.

"Yes, just as soon as you are on the co-pilot's list." She got to her feet, gripping the cane gladly. "Did you like the Singing?" She asked Owen and Katie.

"Fine, but I'll make the key, do you hear me?" he sighed.

"It was lovely, a little weird at times, made the hair on my arms stand up, but I loved it!" Katie told her.

"The Universe is a great lover of music," Aislynn smiled at her as she made her way slowly towards the bridge, "And it responds to song."

"Aislynn!" Taydin grumbled. "Please save your strength. Woman, you drive me mad!" The last bit was mumbled under his breath, but Aislynn heard it anyway.

"I have been waiting for a very long time for this," her tone wasn't quite icy, but she raised an eyebrow at him. "For my lovely Elysium to have the self repair systems online; and for her to have another pilot on the clearance list, a pilot who I know would love her as much as I. I will not be denied now," she informed him with all the imperiousness of a Queen.

"Your Majesty," he swept her an ironic bow, smirking slightly as he did so. "Pray forgive my temerity."

"You are forgiven," she told him with great dignity. "Perhaps you would care to escort me to the control room?"

With a look of mischief on his face, he leaned over and swept her up into his arms, carrying her to the Console Room, the smirk far larger now.

"Anything to spare you the effort, your Imperial Majesty," he told her in a solicitous voice, while Katie and Owen grinned behind them.

"In front of guests?" she protested, but only put up a token struggle, until she was set on her feet in the console room. "You know that wasn't what I meant. Still…" she went to the console and began pressing buttons.

"As your doctors, we recommend that you be carried everywhere by handsome men," Katie teased and Owen nodded.

"Oh yes, very good for your heartsrate and blood pressure," Owen agreed sententiously.

"Shall you carry Katie about everywhere then?" Aislynn teased Owen as a piece of the console flipped over to reveal a small plate.

"Naw, I'm nowhere near good looking enough," he snarked and Katie kissed his cheek.

"Yes, you are, the most gorgeous man in the universe," she murmured to him, a goofy smile on her face.

"Listen to your wife, Doctor Harper," Aislynn teased. "It's good for your health," she winked at Katie.

"I always do, it's safer that way," he teased.

Taydin came over to stand next to Aislynn as she worked, his hand hovering behind her, his concern evident on his face.

"Place your hand upon the plate, please, Scout Commander Taydinfinlass." He did so with an expression of solemnity.

The console made a contented beeping noise. When he removed his hand, Aislynn placed her own upon the same plate.

"Done," she smiled at him when she removed it. "You've full privileges. Welcome aboard." She beamed, her skin almost glowing with happiness; and then wobbled uncertainly, steadying herself on the edge of the console. "Whoops!"

"Right," he replied and swept her back up in his arms, carrying her off and taking her straight to her bedroom, before tucking her under the covers. "Now, for the sake of little novas, Aislynn, sleep!"

The remonstration was almost unnecessary. She was asleep before he had made it to the doorway.

"How can someone so brilliant be such an idiot," he muttered fondly, his face soft as he gazed at her. He sighed and turned off the light, headed back to work on the Elysium once more.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19 - Dangerous Numbers

The Doctor sat quietly while Rose worked, his own hands busy on the keys of his computer. He had a load of paperwork from Pete about the rebuilding to get through. Crisis or not, the crushing weight of forms was not to be deterred.

"Love," Rose broke into his musings with a frown.

"Mm?" he replied, still trying to figure out how a simple requisition form could possibly require four pages of input and that much data.

"So, I've been doing the Maths and I think we may have another problem," she told him and he raised his head in concern.

"Because we weren't already sitting on a bag of rabid weasels?" he asked, his tone rather dry.

"Some of the Bubbles may have inhabited worlds inside of them," she told him and he winced.

"I take it the mass ratios are too large for the area to be simply a lot of vacuum?"

"I'm afraid so. From the calculations I have made off of the TARDIS' scans, I am figuring that several of the Bubbles have full solar systems in them," she explained and he looked into her dark eyes with a sense of impending doom.

"How the hell are we supposed to get them out of there, without having them either swimming in entropy soup, or breaking up as they hit real space?" he grumbled and shunted the work orders away, as he began calculations of his own. Rose, with Malla's tutoring, might be a brilliant mathematician, but he was a temporal engineer and the solution to this particular problem was something he was well suited for.

Which did not make him like the problem even a little bit at all.

* * *

Gaige leaned back in his chair, booted legs crossed and his mind drifted. The strategy meeting was at the political maneuvering phase and he knew that he could safely ignore it for at least twenty minutes.

He let his mind drift back over to a dream he'd had about a week ago. He had been dreaming something else, he knew and then everything had shifted suddenly, changing to a starfield, with him suspended in it. He had been drifting through space, being drawn closer and closer to a flickering wall of lights, like jewels scattered across the black velvet of the sky. As he got nearer, details began to emerge and he'd realized that it was a battle.

At first he'd wondered if he was dreaming about the Time War, but he saw no Dalek ships, just a gleaming solid wall of silver. He moved ever closer and the wall resolved itself into countless numbers of insects, all of them in varying shades of silver. They were utterly beautiful, but also frightening. Beyond the wall was a beetle of impossible size, hanging like a gibbous moon over a world that was being shredded apart, by still more of the insects.

He'd slowly become aware of a tiny, fragile-seeming web of gold hanging suspended before the voracious creatures. At each point, where a line intersected another, a tiny star glowed with fierce light and, as he'd moved through the net, he'd seen that each star was a girl, burning bright with foxfire running across them; they'd burned, but weren't consumed, and he'd stared in wonder at it all.

The star in the middle was the brightest of them all. She'd been in the centre point of a vast web of light, floating at the eye of the storm, her face resolute and her body tensed for the coming battle. He'd drunk in the sight of her, feeling as if something empty inside of him was being filled up, just by the looking.

There'd been a pulse, a feeling across his skin like vast energies were being gathered and then a beam of light burst from her, which struck the big bug between its compound eyes, shattering it.

He was cheering, filled with joy at their success when he was hit by something vast, something crushing. In a moment it had swept away the stars, the bugs, everything. It swept his star away too. He'd been able to see her, to feel her reaching for him, but she couldn't fight the tide that was pulling her under. It was so impossibly vast, the waves so high and so deep that he'd feared she would drown.

He reached out for her and his hand encountered glass.

She was smashed against the barrier, the terrible pressure pushing so hard that the glass was creaking under the strain of it. He pounded with his fist, screaming out a name that he could not possibly know. She was fighting just as hard to break the glass; they were frantic to get to each other. Gaige hadn't known how, or why, but he had known that his life depended on breaking that wall down, on getting to her.

He'd beaten at the wall, screaming that impossible name, shouting his throat raw, trying to break it through sheer desperation, only to see her starting to slide away, falling in slow motion into the vast weighty depths. She had been reaching for him still, even as her eyes were dimming, as her light was fading, flickering, and then gone.

He'd remained there, pressed against the glass, sobbing like his hearts were broken, begging her to come back, but there was nothing now on the other side of the wall, but the inky blackness of space.

He'd woken in a cold sweat, feeling like he'd lost something vital to himself, falling into a sudden despair, sure that he was utterly alone, the last Time Lord in existence, and that no one would ever come for him. He'd spend his lives here under the blistering heat of the three suns, until he withered like a raisin, turned to dust, and blew away.

He kept his face impassive, as though he were still listening to the meeting, but in truth he was pondering the dream, turning it over in his mind and trying to understand.

Who was that girl and why did merely thinking of her make his hearts race? It was utterly baffling and, he admitted to himself, a bit frightening, that so much of his mind and soul was wrapped up in a dream.

Was he going mad finally? Had the heat finally melted his brains? Gaige didn't have a clue and that was the most worrying part of all.

* * *

"How's it going?" Kate Stewart asked them and Koschei and Guinn looked up at her and then at each other.

"I think it would be prudent to evacuate the planet... just in case," Koschei replied and Kate bit her lip in dismay.

"I'll start on that now," she replied and left the room briskly.

Guinn crawled under the workstation and began welding the new circuits into place with a worried look on his face.

"I think it will hold, but I'm worried about the secondary effects," Koschei told him.

"I know, the humans are far more vulnerable to the effects of temporal acceleration," Guinn agreed. Even if they managed to deflect most of the entropy, there was still the chance that some might get through and the short-lived alien races could be aged to death in minutes.

"Yes, exactly," Koschei sighed out, following his thoughts easily.

"We need to stay though, to run the equipment," Guinn pointed out.

"She'll never agree to evacuate with the others," Koschei grumbled and Guinn chuckled.

"We wouldn't either, if the positions were reversed," he reminded his other self, who sighed gustily.

"No, that's true," he replied and his tone was wry. "So, we all stay here together and hope for the best."

"Yes, at least if we fail, we'll still be together," Guinn muttered, not liking the idea, but seeing no way around it. He was trying to figure out a way to get Susan and Koschei to leave, but it would need two of them to work the controls.

"Don't even," Koschei warned and it was Guinn's turn to sigh. Having someone around who knew him as well as he knew himself was occasionally aggravating, when he was hoping to get away with something.

"I was just..." he began.

"I know damn well what you were thinking!" Koschei snapped. "Because I was thinking the same damn thing, but she'd make the Arkytior drag our arses back from the other side, just so she could yell at us!"

Guinn thought about this for a while and finally nodded.

"You're right. She would." It was a bit of a daunting notion and he wasn't at all sure how he felt about it.

"I know I'm right," Koschei replied. "She pulled Diana-37 out of a mental construct and back into her own body without breaking a sweat, so hauling your skinny arse back wouldn't be much problem for her."

"Hey!" Guinn protested. "You didn't say that about my arse last night!" he teased and Koschei chucked a towel at him laughing.

"Pillock!"

"Wanker!"

They worked on after that with better humour, but with the grim certainty that all their lives depended on getting it right.

* * *

"Hell, no, we're not evacuating!" Tomoko scowled.

"You don't need to," the Doctor replied, looking at her in surprise. "This is for the humans, the Typdygs, etc, all the short-lived races."

Tomoko breathed out.

"Good," she said. "I've been trying to introduce everyone to the concept of civilization, all we need is to break up the group and for some poor shmuck in a transport shuttle to sass Neveah, and we all know how that would go down." She rubbed her forehead. "I take it you've worked out the bubble disintegration ratio?'

"Rose has, yes," he replied. "It's not good."

"Lay it on me."

"In about five days, the first one will collapse, and Gallifrey is right in the path of it. Karn, we hope, will be on the far side of the Suns and out of harm's way." He ran a hand across his hair with a groan. "After that, they will start collapsing about one every day to two days," he told her.

"Exciting," Tomoko mumbled as she estimated the maths. "And we have, say, two dozen, so all we have to do is get through the exponential curve for the next two or three months and then it will flatten right out." She looked less than thrilled.

"Yes, a bit too exciting for my taste," he sighed.

"Who was this guy! What was he doing? I mean, really? What was he thinking? I just want to travel back in time, just so I can smack him upside the head."

"I want to do a lot more than merely smack him," the Doctor grumbled.

"So do I, but my sisters and I are trying to practice finding non-lethal solutions to the problems we encounter," she said with a long-suffering and very tired smile. "So, where do you need us?"

"Helping get everyone through the Trans Mats as calmly as possible."

"On it. Any suggested activities for the, shall we call them my "more excitable" sisters?"

"Yes, they can carry people's things to the stations," he suggested.

"On it. Best estimated time for the first wave?"

He checked his internal clock and thought about the timetable that Kate had given him, adding two hours for basic human intransigence and then subtracted an hour, to take into account Kate's extreme efficiency, and nasty glare.

"About three hours from now," he told her.

"Right," she said, and left without another word, to see about organizing the Mashas.

* * *

Adie was in the library, working away on the Sistron Articles research for Susan. The library was far quieter than she was used to. The usual students and scholars had left to begin packing up their things. She tilted her head back to look at the ceiling projection, being soothed by the flights of birds wheeling across a tangerine sky above her head.

Skye bobbed her head and handed her the next data chip she needed and Adie smiled at her.

"Thanks," she said, taking the chip from her and slotting it into the reader, while Skye settled into a chair across from her.

"Adie, I know it's not my business, but can you tell me why you always look so sad?" she asked in a soft voice and Adie went still in surprise, her mouth working as she tried to answer.

"Do I always look sad?" she parried, trying to gain time in which to think.

"Yes, so why are you sad?" she asked with a persistence and bluntness that Adie was growing quite familiar with.

"I… it's… hard to describe," Adie stammered, trying to figure out a way to explain without baring her personal pain and loss. She had a sudden spurt of empathy for Guinn just then; the Mashas were not great with personal privacy.

"Try," Skye requested, leaning back and crossing her arms, as though she was prepared to wait forever.

"Time Lords are… five dimensional beings, have you heard that?" Adie began, still sparring for time.

"I had heard that," Skye admitted, though she looked a bit uncertain.

"Do you know what that means?"

"Um… no."

"It means that we're… partially made of energy," Adie explained and Skye squinted her eyes as she tried to wrap her mind around that concept.

"Okay," Skye nodded at her to continue.

"My energy… my… aura, I suppose you could call it, was… damaged during the bug battle," she admitted and Skye clasped her hands over her mouth, eyes registering her dismay.

"You were hurt?" she demanded and Adie nodded slowly.

"Yes." It was a hard thing for her to admit, because she hated to complain. She still felt that the Mashas had suffered so much more that her own suffering was trivial in comparison.

"How long will it take you to get better?" Skye asked, running a hand through her short brown bangs with a frown.

Adie was silent for a while.

"It's not like that." She found it easier to look at the reader just then. "If a few miracles occur, then maybe I'll get better, but I long ago ceased to believe much in miracles, so, the likelihood is that I will never recover."

Skye's eyes were suddenly filled with alarm and a very deep concern.

"Will you die?" she demanded.

"From that injury? No. It's just… something to live with, that's all," Adie told her, with a shrug. After all, she just had to put her head down and keep going and she was good at that.

To Adie's surprise, Skye came around the table and hugged her. To her even greater surprise, she found herself hugging back, clinging to her like she was the sister that genetics said they were. She held onto Skye, reaching for a moment of connection, of warmth, to hold her against the endless cold.

* * *

Gaige gritted his teeth and forced the despair back down. He had a duty to his regiment and to his frail human friends. Despite the terrible pain he had been in for the last few days, the way that his chest ached and he felt as though he was bleeding to death all the time, he had a mission to complete and people who depended on him.

He'd spied on the enemy encampment and learned what he needed to, but it was still early in the day and he wouldn't be able to sneak out of the camp until nightfall.

He sighed and amused himself by chatting up the camels.

There were few animals in the universe more cranky and bad tempered than a Camel. The Kappall of Medusa Seven came to mind, but it was hard to think of anything else. The camel was an animal with a fine aesthetic sense that knew it was ugly. In their defense, they found humans to be even uglier than they were, but their sense of beauty was very highly refined and very specific.

They loved flowers.

Yet, they were a desert species that was constantly denied the sight, smell, or taste of them.

Gaige spent the first few hours discussing the relative merits of petunias versus marigolds with an elderly matron camel.

"You're not mated, are you?" asked one of the younger camels and Gaige blinked in surprise.

"No," he replied.

"Why?"

"I don't know," he replied and frowned at the underside of his boot.

Truthfully, he'd always sort of wondered if there was something wrong with him. His friends and family had paired off with depressing regularity, but aside from some rare and mercifully brief encounters, Gaige hadn't really been interested. Every woman he'd ever been with had been lacking something. He had no idea why, or what it was, but some part of him had recognized that lack and kept him from following through with a deeper commitment. It had baffled his family, amused his friends, and left him wondering if he were just frozen inside, incapable of loving another person that deeply.

Until the dream, he'd thought he would never feel a deep attachment to anyone, but somehow, he knew that was no longer true, he just didn't understand why.

The camels looked at him pityingly and Gaige couldn't blame them.

* * *

Elder Miriam ran the children through the Chant one more time and prayed it would be enough. They were running out of time and so far only about two dozen Chanters and only one other Singer had come in answer to their cries for help.

"Again, Tressin, you're a little too fast, slow it down, just a bit," she instructed.

Every citizen of Logopolis who could Chant was being trained in the new Equation and every other citizen was busy helping to dig deep underground bunkers where those not actively involved in the Chant would be hidden, in case disaster came upon them.

The economy was falling apart as food, water, blankets, and medical supplies were being gathered and put into the shelters.

The schools were closed as children as young as five were taught the Equation. Every one of them would have to take a turn at the Chant, at least for a brief spell, it was the only way they'd be able to save all those trillions of lives that lay in the path of the coming destruction.

They had a terrible task ahead of them and Elder Miriam had never felt so helpless before.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20 - Casual Cruelty

The Doctor sat down with Farian, Guinn, and Koschei, and outlined the problem. They were using the meeting room at Torchwood and it was strange to feel the emptiness of the building around them.

Kate had taken their advice and started evacuating the planet of all the short lived species and that left the new Time Lords, as well as the original group of survivors, alone on Gallifrey.

The children had also been evacuated, sent to stay on Earth for the duration. The Doctor missed Jenny and Jamie acutely, but had also been grateful that Pete and Jackie had agreed to take the Line House's full compliment of children off to safety.

"Inhabited," Farian groaned out.

"So it would seem," the Doctor replied, feeling the pressure rather strongly just then.

"What was he thinking?" Guinn snarled. "I mean, I could understand using the entropy bubbles as weapons, its not as though we hadn't hit moral bottom by then already, but why seal up inhabited systems!"

"I doubt that moral or ethical concerns would have bothered Rassilon much," Farian added, "But the energy costs would have been so much higher, that it seems impractical."

"Agreed, but Rassilon long ago proved that he liked solutions that addressed more than one problem," the Doctor reminded them all and there was general agreement to that.

"So what other problems did he have?" Koschei asked and they all looked at each other in perplexity.

"I don't know. It may take some time before we find out what he was really doing there. So, let's concentrate on solutions to the problem we have, which is how to save all these people's lives," the Doctor replied, scrubbing at his face with his hands and feeling an incipient headache starting up.

"Right. So, let's look at the structure of the Bubbles," Farian agreed. "Shall I ask the surviving members of that project to come along and present their work?"

"There are people here now that worked on it?" Koschei asked in surprise.

"Oh yes, at least ten of us," Farian told him with a grim look. "That project had a rather high turnover rate."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow and nodded at Farian to make the call. This could prove rather helpful.

* * *

Freeya looked around at the bedroom she'd been given and tried not to feel as though she was about to lose everything again. Her life lately had seemed to be a succession of temporary bedrooms.

She'd been bundled up in the middle of the night by her parents. They'd hugged and kissed her and put her on the Trans Mat, sending her to the Lady Professor's house.

She'd pressed her face to the window there, watching the Daleks bombing the city below, knowing that her parents were down there somewhere.

Now, she was pressed against another window, looking out at the night on an alien world, wondering if her new family would go the same way as her old one.

Since then everything had been temporary. She was an Orphan and she knew that she'd always be waiting for a place that was really hers. She just wanted a family that loved her and wanted her, not to feel like she was a burden on the people around her, an unwanted bundle dumped on them that they felt obligated to care for. She wanted her own bedroom, one she knew was hers forever.

She really hated sleeping in strange bedrooms, not knowing if she belonged.

* * *

Gaige snuck back to camp that evening, made his report, and crawled into his bedroll. He fell asleep, wondering if there was really any reason to keep going at this point. Everything just hurt so damn much.

* * *

He opened his eyes and he was standing in another place. It was a bedroom, with a balcony that opened up onto the Gallifreyan night. The moons were rising and the world was bathed in their lavender glow. There was a figure curled up in the bed and he paused, unsure of where he was, or why he was there.

The figure moved and a pair of eyes were regarding him from the depths of the blankets. In the moonlight, they glowed like sapphires.

"Uh... hello," he murmured, wondering how he'd gotten into a strange woman's bedroom.

"Hello," came the response. The woman had honey-blonde hair, which she had tied back in a loose braid for bed, and wore a blue striped night-shirt that looked much too large for her. She smiled at him shyly.

"I was in the desert," he murmured, feeling a bit confused. "I just got back from a scouting mission." He shook his head, not sure what he was supposed to do. "Sorry to barge in on you like this."

"It's all right. I've been looking for you, I think. I… suppose you must be thirsty, would you like something to drink?"

"I've been looking for you too, I think. I've been worried. You were drowning in an ocean!" he remembered the dream suddenly. "I couldn't get to you." He frowned and then shook his head to clear it. "Tea, real proper tea, not mint, or lavender, just real Gallifreyan tea," he sighed out.

"In real Gallifreyan cups," she smiled at him, got up, put on her soft little carpet slippers, and went to a small replicator. In a moment she had drawn forth a pot and two cups, and brought it to the table near the balcony.

He pulled out her chair for her and then seated himself, holding the cup in his hand like he couldn't quite believe in its existence.

"It's been a very long time, centuries, since I had proper tea," he told her and looked up smiling at her. She was utterly enchanting, beautiful, and with a gentle sweetness that he found irresistible.

"I wish I could send you some. I wish I could send you anything. I've been trying. I want to try to send energy to you, but I haven't even figured out how to begin. I am sorry."

"I doubt that they had an Academy course for this, my Lady," he teased and took her hand in his. Her fingers were small and soft and slightly chilly. He rubbed them to warm them up for her. "We'll just have to wing it."

She flushed to the roots of her hair, her skin turning a vivid scarlet that he found enchanting.

"I never got to go to Academy… well, no, that's not relevant, I'm sorry."

"Everything about you is relevant," he told her earnestly and it was true. He wanted to know every little detail of her life, what she liked, what she disliked, everything. He was enthralled by her every gesture, from how she ducked her chin shyly, to the way she played with the tip of her braid. "Still, I don't know where to start either," he sighed.

"Well… can you tell me where you are?"

"A planet inside of a Bubble Universe. Azari Bal, it's called. A huge desert planet, with three suns and a very small, sad little moon," he told her with a grin. "The people are very kind and generous, I've made good friends. I'm not alone, it's okay," he promised her, squeezing her fingers gently.

One hand flew to her mouth and her eyes got very round.

"Omega," she whispered. She looked absolutely petrified.

"What's wrong?" he asked with a perplexed look.

"We've only found the bubble universes recently, but they're decaying, we have to find you and get you out, we have to do it right away."

"Entropy build up?" he asked, his face going still as his mind raced, trying to frame the problem. "We'll have to get them all out, I can't leave them there!" He was thinking about Rammall and his feisty wife, the men and women in his unit, all his friends and even his enemies. He couldn't let them all die.

"We will, we will get them all out, but it means we have to find which bubble…" her voice trailed off.

"I don't suppose you could sit on Rassilon until he spits it out," he sighed. That would probably be far too easy.

She sat down slowly.

"Rassilon is dead. A lot of people are dead."

"Was it the Daleks?" he asked. He'd long feared that the reason he'd heard nothing for so long was that the war was lost.

"I… here, come with me. I need to show you something." He rose and, still holding her hand in his, followed her.

"Very well." He paused and then laughed. "My name, I never even... My apologies, I'm Gaige, Gaigerandettian of the Arcalians. My manners have gone begging, my Lady."

"Oh! My name is Adyralessialliannevanova, of the Pyrodonians. Everyone calls me Adie," she said shyly.

He swept her a bow, still not letting go of her hand and smiled.

"A privilege and an honour, your highness," he replied.

She blushed again, face going pink and her head ducking down shyly, clearly unused to such courtesies.

"A privilege and an honour," she repeated softly.

He pulled her gently against him and stole a kiss, making it light and gentle, because he could sense her inexperience and reticence. It was hard through, when she was so temptingly lovely.

"You're wonderful," she choked, seeming to be horribly sad, and swallowed hard.

"No, I'm a rogue and a bounder to take such advantage of a beautiful girl," he teased. "However, I'm having a hard time feeling guilty about it." He smiled at her, trying to get her to smile back, tilting his head to look into her eyes. "Why so sad?" he asked.

"Because of what I am about to show you. But you have to see."

"I've seen many terrible things, Princess," he told her gently. "What I've imagined has been rather terrible as well. The truth, no matter how awful, is always better than a pleasant lie."

She pulled on his hand, leading him to the balcony so that he could see the town where she lived.

"This is the alternate universe version of Gallifrey where we all live now," she told him. Then, almost inaudibly, "We lost the War."

"Ah, I had guessed that, when no one came for me," he replied. "That there were any survivors is actually heartening. I was starting to think that I was the last Time Lord left in existence." He shivered, the bleak misery of his long exile washing over him.

"No. We were originally sixty-five, thirty adults, thirty-five children. We've just found more survivors, which quintupled that, which is amazing. But that is all that is left."

"I don't suppose any of my old friends from the CIA survived?" he asked softly.

"The only surviving member of the CIA is an agent named Darginian."

"Dar!" he turned and hugged her tightly, spinning her in a circle with a whoop of joy. "That lucky git! I should have known that if anyone would survive it would be him!" he laughed and kissed her again, holding her for a longer time and lingering over the kiss. He sighed and released her, knowing he ought to go more slowly. "You tell that reprobate that 'the Ghost' is waiting for a rescue, will you?"

Her eyes searched his face.

"You're all right?"

"Well, I miss you something fierce, which is funny since we've only just met," he told her with a wry smile, "But, I'm an old campaigner, I'm tough. I can hold on till you lot come and get me." He frowned. "What about you? Are you alright?" He was suddenly worried and brushed a strand of hair from her face with a tender gesture, his hearts melting as she looked up at him.

She buried her face in his chest, clinging to him very tightly.

"If you are okay, I am okay. I've just been so worried about you being trapped somewhere, and no one can get at you…"

"I'll be fine, Princess, don't you worry," he told her and tucked her tightly against him, resting his cheek against her hair. "Don't fret about me. I'm a survivor, it's what I've always been best at."

She just held him, closing her eyes, resting her head against him and he sighed out, keeping her as close to him as he physically could.

"I'm not the nicest fellow," he confessed. "I'm a spy, you see. I've been an assassin and have done terrible things in the name of Gallifrey. So, I hope you will overlook all of that." He wanted her to like him, but he also didn't want to lie to her. He wasn't exactly Prince Charming, after all.

"I have done my own share of terrible things," she told him and he relaxed a bit, glad that she wasn't going to judge him and find him wanting.

"Right now I don't care about any of that. I just want to ease your pain and I don't know how."

"Funny, just this moment, I don't feel any pain at all," he told her, eyes closed, just breathing in the scent of her. "Don't worry so much about me, ask Dar, he can tell you all sorts of stories about me." He frowned again, thinking through some of the things they'd done together. "On the other hand, I take that back, don't ask Dar, he'll tell all the embarrassing ones!"

She giggled a little at the thought of that, a delightful tinkling sound, and he smiled.

"That's better," he murmured and then she yawned. He swept her up into his arms and carried her over to the bed, settling her into it and crawling in beside her to hold her against him. "Rest now, love," he murmured.

She frowned a little.

"I ought to be able to peel off artron energy and give it to you… if I only knew how to do it…"

"Why? I don't need it. I've got my own. Now, stop fretting yourself and rest, love." He tucked her against him. She rested her head against his shoulder.

"But you're losing it," she yawned. "It's leaking. Because we're disconnected."

"So are you," he pointed out. "So save your energy for yourself."

"Nonsense, I have all sorts of resources that wouldn't be available in the middle of the desert…"

He kissed her, silencing her words the only way he knew how. This adorable, ridiculous woman, with her desperate desire to help him, when she was obviously in far worse shape than he was; it was too much for him. He just had to find a way to protect her and keep her safe and just then, all he had was a kiss and words.

She curled up in his arms, her head on his shoulder, and closed her eyes.

"You are the stars, moons, suns, and planets to me, the breath in my body, and the beat of my hearts," she told him, and dropped off almost at once.

"The sky that arches above me, the world below, all are barren without your touch, your fire lives inside of me, you are my centre, the pillar that makes me stand tall," he murmured softly, not understanding why it all felt so very right and not really caring anymore either. He wrapped her up in his arms and held her close to him, breathing in her scent and feeling as though she soothed something in him. He was soon asleep, his hearts at ease for the first time in a long time.

* * *

Susan stood next to her husbands, arms crossed, and smiled at them.

"Thank you for not saying anything stupid, like "You need to leave us behind and evacuate"," she told them.

"I didn't think I could get away with it," scowled Guinn.

"We discussed it and realized it would never fly," Koschei admitted and Susan sighed deeply.

"Not ever going to leave you two!" she insisted and kissed first Koschei and then Guinn, before putting an arm around each of them and holding them tightly.

"Not leaving!" Guinn protested a little feebly. "Just having a nice, restful visit to a lovely planet far, far away from entropy waves!"

"Ha!" she snorted. "Not leaving the two of you in the path of an entropy wave by yourselves! You'd muck it up and die and then I'd die too."

"Susan," Koschei soothed. "We're not asking you to leave. We never try to move the immovable," he chuckled and kissed her head, one arm around her and the other around Guinn.

"Good, because I am staying and that's that," she repeated, snuggling against them.

Guinn stroked her hair and tried not to show how desperately worried he was for her, though she could feel it clouding his hearts.

"I was thinking about maybe putting you in a nice little energy bubble," Koschei ventured tentatively and Susan frowned.

"Would you two be in one as well?" she asked, looking up at them suspiciously.

"Well, no, we couldn't be in it and also run the machines," he sighed.

"Then the answer is no!" she retorted. "All of us together, or none of us, love."

Guinn and Koschei exchanged looks of long-suffering with each other and hopefully gave up any hope of protecting her more than they already were, while she rolled her eyes and controlled her temper. She knew it was just because they loved her so much, but it was infuriating to be treated like she was fragile.

"We'll just have to make the damn thing work then," Koschei grumbled and Guinn nodded and they kissed their wife and then went back to upgrading the shields.

Behind their backs, Susan smiled at them both with affection ,mixed with exasperation and then left to go have another conversation with Professor Boma.

* * *

When Gaige woke the next morning to the burning suns rising again and the harsh ceaseless winds, he felt as though he'd had his soul ripped out of him.

"A dream," he muttered. "She was just a dream."

"I have those too," Rammal sighed from nearby and grinned. "Was she undressing slowly?"

"No, it was nothing like that," Gaige sighed and climbed to his feet, dusting himself off and smiling at the wiry, dark figure of the Captain, with his twinkling black eyes and curly black hair, threaded liberally through with silver.

"I usually dream of my wife, really," Rammal replied. "We sit and have mint tea and she tells me about the children." His face, lined and creased with sun and wind, looked wistful and Gaige nodded.

"Yes, it was more like that," Gaige answered. "Except, that I have no wife." Yet, even as he said the words, he knew he was lying.

* * *

Adie woke with a happy glow and reached out, but her hand fell on empty blankets. The pain of that stabbed at her and she just curled in on herself for a few minutes, until she could convince herself to get moving. It had just been a dream and nothing more.

She finally rose and dressed. She had an energy balancing appointment with Dr. Terelinian that morning. She would go there and then look for her uncle. If anyone could explain the strange dream, it was the Doctor.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21 - Expanding Problems

When she returned from her appointment, she looked for the Doctor, but he must have been busy, because when Adie checked for him at the Line House, he wasn't there. She was feeling a thousand times better than she had, which gave her a spring in her step as she searched. Not finding him, another thought occurred to her.

Gaige had said that he knew Dar. She hurried off to find Dar, entering the clinic and walking around the hallways until she got to the one that Tomoko had described to her. She knocked on it gently.

"Dar… are you in there? Or… is this the right wall?" She bit her lip uncertainly.

The door swung opened and Dar's voice drifted out.

"Hello Adie," he called out. "Yes, it's the right bit of wall."

She walked into a room that was really not much more that a computer monitoring space with far too many machines and not enough comfortable chairs.

"My lady, how can my lowly, undeserving cur of a self possibly assist you, most fair and lovely of damsels," Dar teased. "Please tell me that the reason you came has something to do with the much stronger and more secure looking bond?" he asked, pointing to the golden cord leading away from her hearts.

Adie blushed madly. She always found herself tongue-tied when put on the spot, and today was no exception.

"I… I… I… I…"

Tea?" he suggested gently and, taking her hand, escorted her into a chair, before turning to his own food replicator and getting tea for them both. "Have a sip and breathe, Adyra, it's okay. I haven't eaten a baby in just centuries," he told her with a sweet smile. It always mystifying to her how he could switch moods and tones so quickly. She wondered who he really was underneath the playacting. Was he the kind friend or the rogue? Or had she never met the real Dar at all?

She nodded, sat down, and took several sips of her tea. It did make her feel better.

"I had a dream," she finally managed, "And I wanted to ask you a question."

"A dream like the ones that Susan and the Master used to have?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, his face intent on hers.

"Like what ones that the Master and Susan used to have?" Adie was clearly surprised.

"Adie... You know that they were bondmated and then separated, right?" he asked, backtracking quickly, as he realized that she had no idea what he was talking about.

"Yes, I did... though I had forgotten. In my timeline she died, but Susan did tell me that, I'm sorry."

"Well, I was the Master's...um, guard, for the majority of the War. I was assigned to keep an eye on him. Over the course of that, we became friends and I was front row centre for the suffering he went through without her. He also had dreams about her. Later on, Susan told me that she'd shared some of those dreams. They had spoken to each other, made love to each other, both of them feeling as though the other had really been there, even though that was impossible," he explained and Adie listened carefully to his words, before nodding slowly.

"I dreamed that I spoke to him and it did feel incredibly real, like he was in the room, but it's only been three days and… I must be rushing things," she told him doubtfully.

"Adie, there is no right way to create a marriage bond and no wrong way either. You are individual people and neither of you is insane, one hopes, so using Susan and Koschei as a metric, is probably not going to be very useful to you all the time," he told her and patted her hand gently.

"Well, I… I dreamed that…" She looked down at her teacup. "He said that he knew you. So I thought I would ask."

"He knows me?" Dar looked at her in surprise. "What was his name?"

"He said to tell you… Ghost needs a rescue?" She looked up from the teacup nervously to see the blood drain from Dar's face and his eyes close in sudden emotion so intense, it was shocking to see on the usually controlled spy's face.

"Gaigerandettian, the Ghost," he murmured and stood up abruptly and walked away from her, trying to wipe his eyes as casually as he could.

Adie hastily looked down at her teacup and added a little bit of cream when she saw his expression. She didn't look up again for some moments, before taking a cautious peek in his direction. He was typing furiously on a keyboard and then an image appeared on the screen. The face was the one from her dream, but the skin was far paler and the hair more a honey gold than the bleached out white-blond it had been when they had spoken.

She felt a sudden surge of joy and hope, setting aside her teacup, as she jumped up and ran to the screen.

"Oh, you have his picture! Oh, Dar! He is real!" she beamed, and leaned forwards to get a better look.

"This is him? The one you saw in your dream?" he asked, looking at her with an unreadable expression, his face back to the normal genial blankness.

"Yes. He was more tanned and his hair was lighter, but that is him." She dug in her pocket for her tablet, and took a picture of his screen.

"Here," he murmured. "I'll download his file for you... minus the really... um... classified bits," he told her and the data streamed to her.

"The embarrassing ones, you mean… he was afraid you might share those stories, but… I'm not sure I want to hear those stories from you. I mean, no offense."

"Adie, he's your bonded husband, I'd never say anything to you about him that he wouldn't be happy to hear," Dar was looking at her with a soft, gentle expression that she'd never seen before.

"Thank you." She almost hadn't pulled her eyes away from the photo. "He's so gorgeous." She was staring at the image, her hearts pounding in her chest, feeling as though some part of her was unfolding slowly, like the universe was brighter and kinder than ever she had imagined it was.

"Gaige? Gorgeous?" Dar peered at the screen and chuckled. "You really are in love. I mean he's not ugly or anything, but his best trait is that he blends in." Dar shook his head thoughtfully. "He never had a steady girlfriend and I always wondered... it was always the two of us, off doing the most dangerous jobs, because we had no attachments," Dar mused. "He must have been waiting for you all that time."

She looked at him.

"I wonder who is waiting for you," she mused.

"Whoever she might have been, Adie, she probably died in the Time War," he said gently. "None of the survivors have set my pulse all aflutter, except for you of course, lovely one," he teased her, ending it with a grin to lighten the mood.

"What about the new arrivals?" she asked and he patted her head.

"No, I think I'm just not going to be that lucky," he replied.

"You may be right… on the other hand, that is exactly what I said about Gaige."

"Touche, princess!" he laughed. "You could be right, some perfect woman is probably hanging about somewhere, wondering when I'm going to get a move on!" He frowned. "So, where do we go to rescue our Ghost?" he asked next.

Adie's eyes flooded suddenly.

"Oh Dar… he's inside one of the bubbles." Dar stared at her for a long moment and then jumped up, grabbed her hand, and dragged her after him out of the room, running hell for leather to the workshop.

"I couldn't find the Doctor!" She told him as they ran. "That's why I came to find you!"

"To hell with the Doctor! We need Rose and she's in the workshop!" he shouted and when he saw her faltering, he picked her up, carrying her like she was a child and hardly breaking stride.

They burst into the workshop, where Rose, Guinn, and Koschei were all standing over a holographic table display, staring at them.

"Rose! What's in the damnable Bubbles?" Dar asked and set Adie on her feet next to Guinn, who steadied her with a hand, looking at her in concern.

"That's what we're working on right now," Rose told him in surprise.

"Could there be people in them?" he demanded and they all turned to look at him.

"How did you know?" Rose asked.

"Look, we'll show you," Koschei told him and gestured at one of the screens which proceeded to display a topographical map of the region where the Bubbles were seeded.

"Artron energy levels are too high for normal background radiation," Guinn reported, pointing to a series of coloured areas. "We highlighted all the ones that might be inhabited in green."

"The levels of entropy are too high in these ones though, for there to be anyone left alive, even if there was before," Koschei informed them, highlighting a group of bubbles with a reddish tone and Adie put her hands over her mouth.

"These ones are far more dense than the others, they are the ones that contain the greatest mass," Rose chimed in and highlighted seven of the Bubbles in blue.

"We're still working out some of the maths, you see," Guinn explained.

"Really not done yet, but I do think we can cross this one off," Koschei said, changing a green one to black. "Not nearly enough mass or oxygen."

"Well, what about this one?" Guinn pointed out and the three of them were suddenly throwing about numbers and readings. They were talking to and over each other and yet somehow they were making progress, the stellar map became a rainbow of colours as they worked.

"Dar, there are at least six Bubbles that could have inhabited worlds in them still," Rose told him finally and pointed to the ones highlighted in Mauve. "We'll need to find a way to transfer the contents into this universe somehow," she told him.

"Can that be done?" Dar asked.

"Theoretically, yes," Rose replied, looking uncertain.

"Just because no one has ever done it before, doesn't mean we can't do it," Koschei added with a small frown. "The Doctor is working on it with Farian and some of the original Physicists that Rassilon recruited to create the Bubbles in the first place."

"We need to move fast, though. These three here only have another few weeks before the entropy inside them builds up to lethal levels," Guinn explained.

"I suppose we could try to take a TARDIS inside one of them?" Adie suggested tentatively.

"Without coordinates?" Koschei pointed out.

Susan came striding in, her face abstracted, and pushed a lock of hair out of her face, the short curled strands refusing to cooperate with her. She turned to greet Adie and Dar and then stood there, mouth hanging open.

"Adie!" Susan exclaimed suddenly. "Your cord!"

Rose, Guinn, and Koschei, all turned and stared at her chest.

Adie blushed to her hairline and looked down, not necessarily because she wanted to see the cord, but because everyone was looking at her. She swallowed hard, feeling as if she had suddenly been placed under a spotlight. She had to fight the urge to edge back behind Dar.

"I'm sorry, Adie," Susan apologized, her face filled with chagrin. "I do know how hard it is to have no privacy at all for your deepest and most intimate feelings." She walked over and hugged Adie, holding her gently. "It's awful having your emotions on display like this and I am really sorry for blurting it out that way."

"It's not your fault," Adie blushed. "I'm okay." Still, she was very, very glad of the hug.

"I understand too," Koschei told her with a sympathetic gaze and Guinn nodded as well. "It's like walking around with no clothes on all the time."

"Now, what can you tell us, without making yourself uncomfortable?" Guinn asked and rubbed her back with gentle fingers.

"Um," Adie swallowed hard. "We're looking for a desert world called Azari Bal, with three suns and a moon."

"Azari Bal?" Koschei frowned. "Why does that sound so familiar?"

"Because it's like the Flying Dutchman," Susan told him. "The Shimmering World of Azari Bal, that appears and then vanishes again."

"Of course! It was one of those planets in a trinary system that had such an erratic orbit that it was nearly impossible to plot its course," Guinn cried. "I remember, it was one of the orbital trajectory calculations we had to do for the finals in ... well, never mind. The point is, it's a real place!"

"Right, so which Bubble is it in?" Rose asked. "Oi! Another question is why is it in a Bubble anyway?"

"Rassilon put him there," Adie whispered almost inaudibly.

"Burning up in the Moment was really not a painful enough death," Koschei muttered. "I really wanted to rip out his hearts and shove them..." he saw Adie's face and subsided. "Sorry."

"Right, so that's where he hid your husband?" Susan asked and then glared at the map. "We've got to get him out of there."

"There's a world, I think… there are a lot of people," she ventured.

"Then we'll have to get them all out," she decided and Rose and the others gave her a look. "What?"

"You are so like your grandfather," Guinn sighed.

"Well, we… can't just… leave them all," Adie pointed out.

"Indeed we can't!" Susan agreed. "Spit spot! Let's all get moving now. Things to do!"

"Uh-oh," Koschei sighed. "She's on a mission. Entropy hasn't a chance."

"I told the White Guardian he was a fool to think I'd ever give up. I mean really, the cheek of the fellow!" Susan muttered and gave Adie one last squeeze before they all went into action. "Now you lot hold down the fort, because I have to go check on Aislynn."

She left the workshop with a brisk stride and the remaining Time Lords looked back and forth with smiles of rueful affection.

"Just like her grandfather," Guinn sighed. "Gives us our orders, then runs off and leaves us to do the work."

* * *

Gaige strode through the streets of Ferrulah, not having time today to study the mosaic tiles, the brilliantly white stucco, or the multi-coloured hangings in the windows of passing shops and houses.

The tech level of Azari Bal was nowhere near Gallifreyan levels, but they weren't entirely primitive either. Motorized cars and steam trains plowed across the deserts and oasis, homes had central air conditioning and heat in the winters, and they only had one, rather understaffed, observatory, high on hill at the north end of the city.

There were legends amongst the people here that once the sky had been filled with stars, but a hundred years ago, they had all mysteriously vanished. Gaige knew the truth behind the legends, but he had long kept his otherworldly knowledge to himself.

He trekked up the hill and then began climbing the sagging, creaking stairs. He paused for a breath on one of the landings and looked down at the bustling city, all the people shopping, chattering, laughing, crying, living out their lives, all unknowing that they'd been denied the stars in order to provide him with a prison.

He took a deep breath and began climbing again.

"Hello my son, are you lost?" a wizened old man, in robes more gray than white, peered myopically out of the window, when he knocked on the door of the observatory.

"No, I'm looking for the Head Astronomer," he replied and the elderly man blinked at him in surprise.

"That would be me, but I have no money, if you've come to rob me," he replied and Gaige shook his head.

"I'm not a thief, I just want to look through the telescope, if you please." His words seemed to utterly flummox the man, who stared at him in bafflement for a long while.

"Well, if you wish it, but aside from the suns and the moon, there really isn't anything to see," he answered and came down to open up the door.

Gaige bowed politely to the man.

"I'm Gaige Randarian, of the 112th regiment," he introduced himself and the elder looked at him in confusion.

"You were born with that hair? Those eyes?" the man asked and Gaige nodded. "Are you djinn?"

"If I am, my mother never let on," he teased and the man laughed.

"Pardon my manners, Gaige Randarian, I am Hamman Frey, Chief Astronomer to the Court of the Sultan," he replied with an expression that told Gaige the irony of that statement wasn't lost on him, as he stood in his worn robes and tattered sandals.

"Please Master, may I look through the telescope?" he asked again and the old man gestured him forward, leading the way up another flight of rickety stairs.

"You may, but, as I said, the stars vanished long ago, there really is very little to see," he apologized, but Gaige merely smiled thinly.

The Telescope itself was huge, many times larger than an equivalent Gallifreyan one would be, but the controls were easy enough to figure out. He had run a few equations through his head earlier and hoped his half remembered physics courses from the Academy were enough to help him here.

He pressed his eye to the glass topped tube and angled the telescope a tiny bit more and there...

It looked like a cloud of violently agitated purple gas, boiling in the vast depths of space. What it really was though was cold, death, stillness, spreading out as heat loss sucked at everything near to it.

A huge area of entropic decay.

His closed his eyes and prayed that his lovely wife had a plan, because just then, he was all out of options.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22 - Searching for Options

Taydin was crawling under the panel, trying to get the circuit boards to seat properly. Nearby he could hear Owen, Katie, and Susan chattering about something, as they worked on the things he felt it was safe for them to handle.

Aislynn was humming as she worked and he smiled to hear it. She reminded him of his wife, yet there were areas where they were very different. He dragged his mind away from such thoughts. She was far younger than he was, with plenty of handsome young men to court her on Gallifrey.

He frowned at that thought, nearly hitting his thumb as he pushed the panel back into place in his sudden dismay.

She was beautiful, talented, highly born, and much younger than he was, he reminded himself and turned his thoughts resolutely to other things. He had to repair the Elysium, after all.

"Here," Susan told him, handing him the next part that he needed and he grunted his thanks.

"So, Aislynn, once you get back to this new Gallifrey, you going to cut a swath through the young men?" Owen teased her and Taydin glowered, hidden by the panel.

"I?" She looked at him in some surprise. "I…. suppose I hadn't thought about it. I'm… not sure you understand how… these things were handled in my line," she said rather delicately.

"Well," Susan told her. "We're all under a lot of pressure to breed more Time Lords, so it's a serious consideration. You're head of your Line now, so how do you want to do this?"

Under the panel, Taydin was trying not to choke.

"Well, traditionally, such matches were arranged well in advance, based upon traditions of both genetics and rank. The arrangements my poor parents made for me nearly started a war," Aislynn said, her eyes twinkling in amusement, but not at all joking and Susan shook her head, still thinking it was all nonsense.

"Oh? My parents wanted me to marry into one of the high ranking Prydonian lines as well, but I told them where they could shove that idea," Susan replied, smiling as she remembered the look of fury on her mother's face.

"My parents tried to make other arrangements, once it was discovered that I could Sing… needless to say his family was rather offended. It might have touched off quite the skirmish, if the Time War hadn't come along." She was silent for a moment. "He died, you see, rescuing survivors from Arcadia." She looked away, her eyes deeply pained.

"I'm sorry, he sounds like a good person. The thing is, I've never understood the arranged marriage thing," Susan admitted. "Being raised off of Gallifrey, I always knew I'd marry for love." She frowned.

"I'm head of Line," Aislynn mused, after a few moments of thought. "It's my responsibility to propose… well, new arrangements, now that the War is over and we are rebuilding."

"Better make it be something that won't have Grandfather glaring at you. He's talking about abolishing the whole thing, Lines, Houses, all of it. He's utterly disgusted with how things went on Gallifrey, you know," she warned Aislynn.

* * *

Aislynn turned towards Susan with genuine horror rising in her hearts. The rock steady foundations of her universe were built on her House and her relation to it. The idea of the Doctor waving a hand and wiping that away was too much for her to comprehend all in one go.

"He's abolishing the Dromenians?" she gasped.

"All of them, Prydonians too, he was saying that it was "elitist nonsense" and that the "artificial separations led to internecine strife" or some such," Susan replied, with a blithely cheerful disregard for tradition and history that made Aislynn a bit stunned.

Aislynn felt as if she had been stabbed in the hearts. She just stared at Susan with her mouth open for a moment, trying to find words.

"What did you expect from him? We're descended from the Other, after all," she told Aislynn with a shrug. Aislynn knew it was true that the Doctor's Line had long been the voice of change and rebellion on Gallifrey, even as they guarded the planet and its culture fiercely, but she still hadn't expected him to go this far.

"So, does that mean you can marry anyone you want to now?" Owen asked and she frowned fiercely at the human doctor.

"That could have been arranged without abolishing the Houses," Aislynn shot back, feeling shaken. She was angry and scared at the whole thing, but not sure how to express that.

"He hasn't done it yet and he might not, but I think it will depend on how hide-bound everyone gets and how much snobbery there is," Susan told her with a conciliatory air. She was looking at Aislynn and she seemed to finally recognize the depths of Aislynn's unhappiness.

"No, the Houses must remain. Their structure, function, and administration must change; that's obvious. But we must not allow the Daleks to sweep aside the ideals we once cherished."

"Aislynn, the Houses were created as a way of controlling genetics after the Great Dying, which was a billion years ago," Susan pointed out and Owen blinked at her.

"A billion years ago?" he gasped and Katie stared at the Time Lords in awe and Susan nodded at him.

"Yes, that was their original function. That function is no longer needed and can no longer stand. Times have changed. The Houses must change with the times. But they must remain as Houses." She paused. "If nothing else…" She looked at Taydin, who had come out from under the console to listen to the conversation. "There are certain ways in which House structures were helpful in predicting the talent of Song."

"I can tell that by running a genescan," Susan shrugged. "However, I can't tell you how to nurture that gift, or encourage it. If you think that's an important function of the Houses, then, by all means, argue your case with Grandfather. He's stubborn, but he can be reasoned with and he respects people that are willing to argue with him." She smiled at Taydin. "Besides, he's not immune to Taydin's garrulous charm." Taydin snorted at that.

Aislynn shook her head, trying to find words for beliefs that were held so deeply that she could barely articulate them.

"The Houses were more than that, or at least the house of the Dromenians. We were the smallest of the Houses, but we were… an extended family. We stuck together. We were there for each other. We forged ties. We will need those ties now that the War is over."

"Exactly the problem," Susan pointed out. "You were Dromenians first, just as we were Prydonians first. We need to be Gallifreyans first, not putting our Houses ahead of the planet."

"I quite agree with that sentiment: but that does not mean that we oughtn't to have Houses at all!" she protested, still trying to find a way to express her convictions cogently.

"I don't know, Aislynn, I'm the wrong person to argue this with. I was raised as a citizen of the universe from age eight. I wasn't raised on Gallifrey. For me it was a restrictive, awful place, where I was constantly looked down on and judged for having married a human and for having lived on other worlds. I hated being stuck on Gallifrey, honestly. I found it narrow-minded, provincial, and utterly isolationist. I couldn't wait to get away from it. So, the people to talk to are the ones who were raised there," she explained with a shrug and Aislynn stared at her, trying to wrap her mind around Susan's point of view and having deep trouble with it.

"The person to talk to, it seems, is the Doctor," Aislynn said. "Bother, I was never any good at arguing things like this. I always tried to avoid politics."

Taydin sat up and shot her an amused look.

"If you plan on heading your House, you better learn," he pointed out.

"Yes, I quite agree. Let me go place a call. Would you all like to chime in?" she asked and Susan looked at her in surprise.

"I think we better repair your ship first," Susan suggested. "Rose is worried about the Entropy Wave that is coming and she said it would take Singers to fix that, so we need you mobile and soon!"

"Really? Have you heard anything about this, Taydin?"

"Yes, Darginian was discussing it with Koschei. Artificial Bubble Universes are decaying, left-overs from the War," he explained.

"And thus without external sources of power? That's… going to be very bad. Perhaps we had best work quickly." She eyed Susan. "But don't you let your grandfather dissolve my house without speaking to me first!"

"Aislynn, what makes you think I have any control over Grandfather!" she laughed. "He's a force of nature, like a hurricane." Taydin laughed at that agreeing completely with that assessment.

"You, my dear girl, have inherited the Eyebrow of Doom. I expect you to use it, until I am in such a state that I can make a personal visit without endangering anyone."

Susan stared at her and shook her head.

"You obviously don't know my grandfather," she muttered. "The eyebrow only works when he chooses to allow it to, besides we have bigger worries right now. There are inhabited worlds in those bubbles and billions of lives are at stake. Plus Gallifrey is threatened by this as well. I think Houses and Lines are a distant second on our list of priorities!"

"Susan. Please." Aislynn fixed her with a serious gaze. "He loves you. I know that he will listen to you. At least see if you can persuade him to hold off, until I can come to him and make my case in person."

"How about we save the planet from certain doom first and worry about politics later," Susan snapped back. "My husbands will be manning the shields when that wave hits and I have a few other things on my mind right now." She stood up and walked out of the room, her eyes filling with tears.

"Uh... What was that all about?" Owen asked.

"My poor hand at politics, I am afraid," Aislynn said, and went to see if she could catch up with Susan.

"She said billions of lives!" Katie blurted, but the rest of the conversation faded out of earshot as she hobbled after the younger Time Lady.

* * *

The Doctor leaned over the lathe and carefully fashioned the part, his eyes never leaving the device. The Workshop needed to be expanded again, he thought to himself. With the addition of Guinn and Freeya, as well as Zoe-29, it was starting to get a bit crowded when everyone was working at the same time. Just then it was only himself and Guinn in the shop, working in companionable silence, but he still needed to consider that expansion.

"You're really worried, aren't you?" Guinn asked him and the Doctor looked up at him in surprise.

"What makes you say that?" he asked, wondering how he'd given himself away.

"Because you are sharp, focused, and haven't babbled at me in over an hour," Guinn replied with an amused twinkle in his eye and the Doctor grimaced and shook his head. His oldest friend knew him rather well, he mused.

"Yes, I'm extremely worried," he agreed with a shrug. "If a wave of the magnitude we're calculating were to hit an inhabited world...," he trailed off, his mind shying from the images that his words conjured for him. Guinn shivered.

"I know. Still, what exactly can we do that we are not already doing?" he asked.

"Not every option has been considered," the Doctor muttered, thinking over everything that had been said at the meeting with Farian and the engineers.

"Oh?" Guinn asked and looked at him rather sharply.

"One of the engineers suggested that we could create a small black hole in the centre of the mass and suck it out of the universe," he muttered and Guinn frowned fiercely.

"Not all options are going to be considered," Guinn commanded him and the Doctor relaxed a bit.

"You were always the one with the better conscience," he replied and felt obscurely better that Guinn had been so firm about it. It made his own dislike of the plan feel less foolish, he supposed.

"Nonsense! It's not about a conscience. Susan nearly died trying to shunt the Arkytior's energy away from the inhabited planets in that region! Do you think, for one instant, that she would ever forgive any of us, if we turned around and fed them into a black hole?" he snarked and the Doctor nodded, pretending to believe that that was Guinn's real motive there. He knew the truth, but wasn't about to embarrass Guinn just then.

"Of course, you're quite right," he replied and hid his twitching lips by ducking his head back down over the lathe.

"Did they have any actual intelligent suggestions?" Guinn asked scathingly and the Doctor nodded.

"Once the entropy is released from the bubbles, there may be a way to use two TARDIS to use the actual temporal forces of the Vortex to drag the entropy away from inhabited worlds and convert it, using Block Transfer Maths," he replied.

"Hmm," Guinn frowned. "Tricky, but I do see a few ways to do that."

"I thought that you might," the Doctor admitted and Guinn glanced at him in suspicion.

"Did you now?"

"Well, you are stone cold brilliant, my dear friend," the Doctor told him with a wry smile and Guinn snorted.

"Let's hope that's true," Guinn sighed and pulled his notepad down to work on the problem. "Because a few brilliant ideas would not be amiss here."

* * *

Owen looked at Taydin in enquiry.

"So, Entropy Bubbles? You want to try explaining this?" he asked.

"I'll try, but it won't be easy. I am going to simplify the mathematics here so much, that my analogy will not be particularly accurate, through it will hopefully be understandable," Taydin told them with a small smile. "I would give you the equations, but I suspect that you wouldn't be much interested."

"No, sorry," Katie chuckled, tucking a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear and looking up at Taydin with a smile.

"Entropy is what we call the tendency of things to lose heat. By lose heat, I mean, for stars to cool, for force to dissipate, etc. With me so far?" he asked and they both nodded. "Entropy builds up in a closed system. If you don't inject heat and energy into a closed system, it will cool and eventually the entropy will build up to one hundred percent."

"Which is bad?" Owen asked.

"If your sun turned off, would that be bad for Earth?" he asked and Owen nodded, looking suddenly alarmed. "Now, my people found a way to weaponize entropy. It's not exactly an invention I am proud of, but if you create a closed system, like a Bubble Universe, something small, say the size of a solar system," he told them and Owen laughed.

"A solar system is small?" he asked in disbelief.

"Compared to a Galaxy, yes," Taydin replied with a wry smile. "It's all relative."

"Right, go on," Katie told him with a gracious smile, nudging Owen to be quiet.

"Well, if you let the entropy grow to one hundred percent in a closed system and keep it contained, it will eventually reach absolute entropy." He paused and eyed them. "If you lie down on a sheet of ice, the heat in your body will be drawn into the ice, as the relative entropy of both bodies tries to equalize. Net result is that you will freeze to death. If you release a huge amount of a controlled entropic state it will seek to equalize everything around it. Suns will go out, planets will freeze, people, plants, and animals, will lose so much energy that they will appear to age to death in minutes. It's a weapon of mass destruction."

There was a long silence as Owen and Katie stared at him.

"Susan's husband will be in serious danger then," Kate murmured.

"She has two husbands, actually, who will both be in danger," Taydin corrected and Katie raised an eyebrow,

"Two?" Owen asked. "I just thought I was mishearing her."

"Line marriages are not uncommon on Gallifrey. When people live thousands of years, they become ... flexible, about personal relationships," he explained with a careful tone. He liked these two humans, but he wasn't quite sure how they would respond to concepts that were rather alien to them.

"Thousands of years?" Owen sputtered. "I can imagine that you would get flexible!"

"Look, it's none of our business how many husbands she has, what's important is that we do what we can to help," Katie replied and Taydin smiled.

"That is a very Gallifreyan attitude," he complimented and they both beamed at him. He was constantly amazed by the way they adapted to all the strange things they were being exposed to. Humans were really quite delightful.

He was starting to see why Susan had fallen in love with one.

* * *

Aislynn walked slowly. She suspected that Susan would want a few moments to calm herself first. This wasn't really a problem, as she wasn't exactly speedy these days.

Susan was standing in the middle of one of the gardens taking deep breaths.

"I'm sorry, that was rude of me," she murmured and dashed away her tears impatiently.

"No, the rudeness was mine. I came to apologize to you. Naturally you are worried for those that you love."

"It just seems like every time I turn around that man is getting blood all over my medi-bay, I spend more time stitching him up than sleeping with him!" she complained. "Jeopardy friendly doesn't even begin to cover it!"

Aislynn, rather tentatively, gave her a hug and Susan turned to bury her face in her shoulder, sobbing suddenly.

"They will be all right," she soothed, and stroked her back gently.

"I had to put him back together after he nearly died saving me, and before that my mother tried to poison him, and before that his last wife murdered him, twice!" she choked out. "Why does he do this to me?"

"He loves you," Aislynn murmured, and then sighed. "For what it is worth, I am truly sorry about the poisoning. I've lost several family members to poison."

"Mother is such a hideous snob, she thought he wasn't good enough for me, because he doesn't have more than two bloody parts to his name and because his Line wasn't grand enough! Why does that matter in the least? He loves me, he was willing to die for me, that's more than enough," she sniffled.

"I agree. At this point I should say he has easily proven his worth. You're very lucky to have him… well, to have them both." Aislynn was starting to see why Susan cared so little for Houses and Lines, hers had obviously not done well by her.

"They're sort of the same man," Susan sighed. "Did I tell you that? I can't remember."

"No, you never did," she replied with a considering tilt to her head.

"We found a second version of my husband, Koschei, in the Temporal Grace Point on the Command Centre, where Farian was. His timeline had collapsed, but he was preserved there in cryo. He's the version of the Master that made the Mashas, you see. He woke up and Rassilon was dead and the compulsions were fading. He thought I was dead and went off to fight the Manifold alone, because he's always been a bloody stupid idiot!" she explained a bit incoherently.

"Yet he does not seem to have met his fate there," Aislynn commented, trying to follow the story as best she could.

"No, I got to him in time and convinced him to stop trying to die nobly for me," she groaned. "I brought him back to Gallifrey and he's as riddled with guilt as the other version, but he's slowly healing and just as things are getting calm, Rassilon has to try to kill us all, again!"

"Yes, his reach seems to extend beyond the grave, doesn't it?" Aislynn looked troubled.

"Tell me about it! Why can't he just stay dead!" Susan sighed.

"It does seem to be a bothersome habit of his."

Susan choked out a laugh.

"Aislynn, you have an absolute genius for understatement," she chuckled. "But, there is much to do and little time to do it in. I need to stop indulging in hysterics and get back to work."


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23 - Logopolis

Aislynn was wearing robes of pearl-gray and silver, formal enough to meet even the highest-ranking of possible hosts, but practical enough to outrun pursuers, if necessary.

The console room of the Elysium was truly beautiful while travelling. It had sat dark and lonely for months. It was lovely even in its passive stated, its buttons like gems and jewels, its central column filled with golden blobs of liquid that burbled quietly. Now in flight, the blobs of liquid gleamed, floating up and down, and looking like nothing so much as a gigantic lava-lamp; the gemlike buttons glittered and sparkled. She had several screens up with various data going back and forth.

Owen and Katie ran in together, hand-in-hand, both of them wearing slacks and shirts, over which they had thrown their white coats.

Taydin stepped up to the console, in crisply pressed trousers and shirt, his boots freshly polished by the TARDIS.

Aislynn beamed at him, then turned to her companions.

"We are in flight," she informed them. "It should take us seven minutes to reach Logopolis. Would you like to see an image of the Vortex while we are in transit?" Her hands played over the keys, bringing up a screen showing lightning-struck clouds.

"That's beautiful!" Katie murmured.

"It is lovely, isn't it? The Elysium travels through the Vortex to reach her destination; in this case, Logopolis."

"We're making excellent time. So far, the Bubble is holding," Taydin told them, looking relieved.

* * *

Dar darted around the corner and found Adie sitting front of a terminal screen. She was reading the heavily redacted file he'd given her with a slightly perplexed expression.

"Hey Dar, can you give me some more details on this Atraxi mission?" she asked and he blinked at her, trying to find an answer that wouldn't make her upset.

"It was a terrible idea, but well executed," he replied and then raised a hand. "Adie, we have to go to Logopolis, we need to grab the Doctor and Rose and go now."

"All right," she murmured. "What about Susan and the Koscheis?" she asked him.

"They have to stay here to man the guns," Tomoko told her with a shrug and Adie nodded.

"Let's get the Doctor and Rose then," she agreed.

* * *

"You see the problem," said Elder Miriam, as she walked along the narrow streets. She was old and walked with the help of a stick; but the decorations on her robes spoke of great rank.

Aislynn, Taydin, Owen, and Katie were following closely. Taydin had extended his arm and was again escorting Aislynn. Aislynn, who was still too weak to be able to effectively protest such treatment as improper, had accepted the assistance. She was frowning, as she looked at the many people standing on porches and in the doorways of adobe houses, faithfully chanting.

"I do indeed."

"Please don't misunderstand me," Miriam said, turning to her. "We are grateful for your response to our distress call. We need Chanters and Singers desperately. But... we had hoped there would be more."

"I believe that we are the last surviving Singers of my people," Aislynn said gently. "There isn't any more help to come. I am sorry."

"We need a thousand Chanters," said Miriam, resuming her walk. "Given that you were skilful enough to understand our distress call via the Chant, I have no doubt of your ability, but two Singers is simply not sufficient."

"But you are handling the additional influx of background entropy at this time?"

"Yes, barely," They had reached the town square and she gestured to the small town, which they could see laid out on the hill below. "By utilizing every man, woman, and child. Our educational system has all but been shut down, because we have had to pull every student out of classes. Elders are chanting on their deathbeds. The economy is grinding to a standstill. We're barely able to maintain enough support infrastructure to keep ourselves fed. The impending decay of this bubble has thrown the levels of background entropy so high that it has all but overwhelmed us, and it hasn't even burst yet. It's due to disintegrate in hours, and then we'll really be in the thick of it."

"However, you do believe it to be empty?"

"Yes, its resonance is hollow. But... we are hanging on by our fingernails right now. Once it bursts..."

"Indeed. Not to mention the fact that we haven't even addressed the problem of the additional bubble dimensions."

"I know... and there are over a dozen of them. All of them are building up entropy at varying rates. Sooner or later the outer shells will decay, and they will all burst. Logopolis is directly in the path of the entropy wave that would be produced, as is this Gallifrey you speak of, and a thousand other worlds."

"I see the problem," Lady Aislynn said, but then smiled at her. "I'll see what I can do..."

* * *

Susan ran from the Trans Mat station across the nearly empty plaza, her boots loud in the expectant silence. She kept running down the curving road to the Torchwood / UNIT building and slammed through the door, leaping the unmanned security station, then skittering sideways around a corner, before she burst into the Shield Defences Monitoring Room.

"Susan!" Guinn cried out and Koschei opened his arms to her. She launched herself at them both and they gathered her up against them.

"I thought you were on Earth?" Guinn said and she could see that he'd been hoping she'd stay safely away.

"You told me the wrong time!" she accused, her anger white-hot inside of her and Guinn shook his head in denial.

"Rose's numbers were slightly off, that's all!" he promised, holding her so tightly against them both that she could feel her bones creaking and didn't care.

"Right. Can I do anything?" she asked, as she pulled back, smiling up at them.

"Yes, sit there and read off the numbers to us," Koschei replied and kissed her with bone melting thoroughness, before handing her to Guinn and diving under a console.

"We're not quite done with the upgrade," Guinn told her and kissed her as well, lifting her off of her feet to sear her mouth with his, before releasing her and heading to an open panel to continue his rewiring.

Susan sat down in front of the computer screen and, in a calm steady voice, read off distance, speed, and strength estimates on the wave to them. She was wrapped up in a light gestalt with her husbands, holding them in her mind and her hearts, as they balanced each other, three points that merged into one.

* * *

Aislynn listened carefully to the chant.

She was sitting in the amphitheatre with Elder Miriam, Taydin, Owen, and Katie. The great Amphitheatre was the focal point of the Chant, and Chanters came and went as mathematics dictated. Right now, it was crowded with Chanters, young and old, a great chorus all reciting and calculating together. The chorus was in motion as Chanters drifted in and out, but there was no question that the Amphitheatre had not been designed to hold so many.

While Aislynn was listening, she was doodling idly on a pad of paper.

"We're not going to get another thousand chanters," she muttered to it. "Even six or seven hundred would put us over the hump, but there simply aren't that many left. What we really need is an amplifier of some sort, but it's no good, not only is mechanica not my forte, the computation would warp any mechanical parts we happened to get near it..." She shook her head. "We can contact Gallifrey for help," she said at last to Elder Miriam. "See what can be worked out."

"You'd have to be fast," Elder Miriam replied. "Other bubbles are disintegrating, two more are already on edge..."

"Yes, I can hear the dissonance," Aislynn responded.

* * *

Adie, Dar, and Tomoko landed the TARDIS outside the workshop and Dar ran out to get the Doctor and Rose.

"We sent the kids to stay with Pete and Jackie on Earth," the Doctor was saying, as he came aboard the TARDIS with Dar, Rose's arm about his waist and his around her shoulders.

"They think it's one big happy trip to Gran and Gramps," Rose told him, smiling, but with her eyes still worried.

"Shall we?" Adie asked nervously and Dar, Rose, and the Doctor joined her at the console, piloting the ship.

"Logopolis! Been ages, really looking forward to going there and not having it get destroyed this time," the Doctor told them with a grin.

"Yes, let's try to make that happen," Dar snarked and Rose grinned and shook her head.

"You're like a mini apocalypse, love," she told him and he shrugged.

"I just tend to end up in the middle of things," he retorted and they all paused for a moment, to savour the understatement, and then went back to piloting.

* * *

Above Logopolis, there was a distant rumble in the sky. It sounded like thunder, but it was instantly clear, even to Aislynn's two human companions, that it wasn't. Everyone stopped in their tracks, looking up. The Chanters in the amphitheatre kept chanting, but many more began rushing towards the platforms where everyone was singing.

Aislynn and Elder Miriam looked at each other.

"We've been chanting in rotations of three shifts," Elder Miriam said. "I'll have to pull everyone for this."

"How many does that net us?"

"Three hundred Chanters, five Singers," she called back as she hurried away, calling out instructions, and organizing even as she was swarmed.

Aislynn nodded and turned to the others.

"Get to the Elysium," she said. "Taydin and I shall join you when we can."

"What's happened?" said Katie.

"The original distress call was sounded because a bubble dimension was on the edge of collapse." Her eyes flicked up to the sky. A black spot had appeared in it, purple clouds boiling angrily, spiralling out in furious swirls. "It has just burst. The others should be here in moments. They are likely to land near the Elysium, go and meet them! Go on! Get into the TARDIS and stay there! If you are touched by that entropy, you will die instantly!"

She turned on her heel and hastened away, Taydin at her elbow, silvery robes swirling around her ankles, heading for one of the high platforms reserved for Singers. The boiling purple clouds had covered half the sky in the time it had taken her to give the instructions.

"What about you?" Katie called after her.

"We're Time Lords, we'll be fine!" she assured them and they exchanged looks. Owen took Katie's hand in his, and they ran for the Elysium.

* * *

It wasn't a very big room really, just large enough for the five people whose job it was to keep at eye on the screens to sit and watch the monitors.

"It's coming in fast," Susan muttered. "Will the shields hold?"

"I hope so," Koschei replied. "There wasn't really a way to test it."

"Omega!" Guinn cried out.

"What?" Susan asked.

"Karn!" he groaned, calculating quickly, and Susan looked at him in horror. "The bubble popped earlier than we expected, and Karn hasn't hit the far side of the Suns yet! I can't be sure if it's far enough away or not," he told her, his anxiety carrying to the other two.

"Bloody hell," Susan groaned.

The wave of entropy moved through space, like a tumbling, billowing cloud of acid. Everything it touched dissolved, ageing to destruction in seconds. Planets, stars, asteroids; all froze at its caress. Time ran faster and faster inside of it, grinding the gears on eternity and changing the outcome of a thousand probabilities.

Karn survived through pure luck. The entropy was coming on very fast; but Karn's orbit pulled it to the side of the wave, out of range of the crest, which crashed right through the space it had occupied only minutes before. If the bubble had popped ten minutes sooner, they would have lost the planet entirely.

Avoiding total destruction, it nevertheless didn't emerge unscathed. A stray tendril, the width of a finger, scraped across its surface, and left a swath of destruction a thousand miles long. Grass died, earth crumbled and eroded, trees froze, crackling and disintegrating, animals aged to death in instants. After the planet had pirouetted away from the cloud, a new jagged tear in the surface remained; deep, oddly straight, and completely barren; a reminder of the forces that ruled over everything, even Time.

Gallifrey wasn't as fortunate in its orbital positioning as Karn; it was facing the edge of the wave. Hundreds of miles across and just as tall as it was wide, it roiled across space, headed for the orange ball that lay there, spinning through the glassy darkness.

The minds of Koschei and the Doctor had conceived of the defence screens, their hands had helped to construct it, their genius had inspired those who had assisted in putting it all together, and with Guinn's help they had done their best to bolster them, but none of them knew for sure what was going to happen when it hit.

Susan looked at her husbands, brown eyes filled with anxiety, and they looked back at her for a moment.

"I love you so much," Koschei murmured to her.

"Forever, Susan," Guinn told her

"I love you both, forever," she replied and then they all turned back to their tasks, her voice reading out the scans in a quiet, even tone and the two of them adjusting the shields to compensate on the fly, as she fed them the data.

The wave crested, crashing down over Gallifrey. The shields screamed under the weight of it. The skies went purple and then fluoresced, as the generators fought to maintain integrity. Thunder crashed, lights flashed across the sky, lightning jabbed at the surface, and the planet shuddered under the onslaught.

Inside the room, the three of them fought to keep the shields operational, calling out data to each other, running back and forth, working frantically to save their world and themselves, as the terrible force pressed against constructions that had seemed so strong only days before and that now sparked and groaned, as they suddenly were faced with something far beyond their original design specifications.

Hours passed, the three of them moving as one, slipping deeper and deeper into gestalt as they worked, unconsciously clinging to each other, as they strived together. Sweat beaded their brows, ran down their backs, plastered hair to their heads, but they couldn't even stop long enough to wipe it away, too much depended on them.

Then, the sounds began to fade, the sky outside on their monitors began to slowly clear. The purple was dissipating as orange patches began to shine through once more. The shield's screams became hums again and finally the sensors showed normal entropy levels in the surrounding area of space.

It was over.

Susan sagged in her chair and Koschei and Guinn looked at each other in inexpressible relief.

"Right. Need to build another few Entropic Shunt Circuits next time," Guinn muttered, his voice unsteady. "At least five of them."

"Yeah, good idea," Koschei replied and then Susan was across the room and in their arms and they were all holding each other tightly, just so very glad that they had survived.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24 - The Long Chant

On Logopolis there were no lights.

Everything had come to a halt. Grav-cars had stopped in the street, flying vehicles had landed wherever a safe strip could be found. Every man, woman, and child who knew any bit of Chant was either Chanting or Singing, standing next to their idled cars, on their lawns, in the middle of streets, on balconies, or wherever they happened to be. Taller buildings were crumbling from the rooftops down, their occupants scrambling to find safety, Chanting even as they fled.

The sky was unspeakable, black and purple and filled with lightning, as if the entire world had suddenly been plunged straight into the Untempered Schism. Here there were no defence shields; and this was the spot where the brunt of the force had impacted.

The force of the wave was held back solely by the force of the Chant and it was fortunate that Logopolis had no moons, for there would have been no way to save them. For twenty-two hours the clouds boiled and spat lightning; but at last they began to lighten in colour.

The worst was over. The wave was passing. They had survived.

Owen and Katie joined the scores of others who were not able to chant for whatever reason, bringing water to those who were chanting and singing, whose voices must not be allowed to falter. Chanters, worn past human endurance, were collapsing all over the planet and they found that two doctors were suddenly very, very useful.

* * *

"So, is there anything we can do?" Diana asked and Jake looked up as well. They had run into the TARDIS at the last moment and given the Doctor a glare for daring to go off without them, but now, watching the cloud of purple roiling across the planet, she wasn't so sure she should have come. She felt helpless.

Adie, Dar, Tomoko, Rose, and the Doctor were watching the screen with them, faces tense and unhappy.

"They are already doing it," Rose told her. "With just one TARDIS, there isn't much we can do ourselves." They were hanging in the Vortex just then, wondering if there would be a planet there to land on soon.

"So, we're just waiting to see if they survive?" Adie asked, looking upset.

"No, I am beaming BTC equations into the cloud as well, but it's not a much better than spitting on a forest fire," Rose admitted, looking just as unhappy.

"We'll be able to help later, with clean-up," the Doctor sighed. "I can also talk to them about erecting proper shields, but they've always been averse to technology on Logopolis."

"It's clearing!" Tomoko called out and they all turned and looked with relief at the dusty, yellowish ball that was slowly emerging from the cloud.

"Let's land," Rose decided and the Time Lords all moved to fly the ship, faces tense and nervous.

* * *

It was the Singers who kept on the longest; but finally, when the clouds had worn themselves to merely thunderous, a few of them consented to come down as well, if in small groups and pairings, while others continued the Song. Aislynn at length came down from her platform and took a seat against it, and waved Owen over.

He finished inserting an IV for a stressed Chanter and then ran over to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, her recent illness weighing heavily on his mind and it was instantly obvious that he was right to be worried. She looked absolutely terrible, her eyes looking bruised and shaking in every limb. One glance at her had him looking for another IV. Nevertheless, she smiled wearily at him.

"The Singers will be keeping the Song going until the others can recover," she said, her voice hoarse and worn. "We'll probably need stimulants, water… Oh, thank you Katie," she took a sip from the water bottle that Katie brought.

"Some of these people can't possibly keep going, even with stimulants, Aislynn. They need food, sleep," he told her, eyes weary and face haggard. "There must be someone we can call for help."

"Entropy may be low enough to re-establish communication with Gallifrey." She took the energy bar that Katie handed her and devoured it. "See if they have something on hand to deal with background entropy. Otherwise we'll need to keep up the Song for another day or so until the Chanters have had a chance to recover and take over again." She smiled at him, stood to her feet, shaking, and resumed the Song, as another Singer came down from a different platform for a quick break. She returned to her place, leaning heavily on her cane, Taydin lending her a hand back up.

He had not yet stepped down, even as recently healed as he was, just standing and Singing like a machine and Owen wondered how long he could keep it up before he just collapsed.

The familiar grinding noise of a TARDIS could be heard nearby and then a pillar, like others in the area materialized. The Doctor and a large group of others disembarked and looked around..

"Hello, Aislynn," Dar greeted her with a polite bow.

Aislynn, in the middle of the Song, couldn't respond directly, but inclined her head politely, and waved over Katie and Owen.

"Hello Doctor! we're so glad to have you here, things have been rather problematic," Katie told her and the Doctor and the rest looked around in dismay.

* * *

Even with a casual glance, the Doctor could see that the situation on Logopolis was dire. Doctors were scurrying here and there among Chanters who had fainted or were near to doing so. A number of buildings had crumbled to pebbles. The levels of background entropy were horrifying, tall trees were frozen at the top, their crowns brown and withering away to dust. Thus far, the city was mostly still intact, but if something couldn't be done about the next few waves of entropy, it wouldn't remain that way for long.

Elder Miriam was coming towards them, leaning on her walking stick, looking far older and more worn than he remembered. As she approached, one of the Singers behind her suddenly crumpled, worn past all endurance. Two of the healers leaped for him, as his replacement, a tall skinny fellow, who had only just come down off his own pillar, stood back to his feet and resumed the Song, in the place of his fallen comrade.

"Elder Miriam," the Doctor greeted her, taking her hands in his. "How can we help?" he asked her gently. Behind him, Rose, Dar, Tomoko, Diana, Adie, and Jake all looked about with varying degrees of alarm.

"Forgive the lack of formal greeting," Elder Miriam said. "You are the Doctor, is that correct? The Singer Aislynn told us that you were coming."

"Yes, I'm sorry, I forgot that you wouldn't know me," he muttered. "Yes, I'm the Doctor, this is my wife Rose, my niece Adie, and our friends Dar, Tomoko, Diana, and Jake," he introduced and they all nodded and waved back. "Pleased to meet you, now, how can we help?"

"Have you Singers? Chanters? Anything? All of our attention is focused on the tail tendrils of the Entropy Wave that has just passed. If we cannot get the background entropy under control, the planet is going to crumble to dust around our ears! We simply have no manpower left to deal with the background entropy," she explained and he frowned.

"We have no Singers, though Rose can do the calculations and can Chant," he informed the Elder and Rose nodded at her.

"Good! Please go to join the Chanters!" Miriam instructed and Rose kissed him swiftly and then charged off to join the Chant.

Tomoko and Diana came over to stand beside the Doctor, looking around in consternation.

"Where do you want us, Doctor?" Tomoko asked, her eyes flicking around the area, like she was vacuuming in every speck of data she could perceive.

"Do you Chant, my dears?" Elder Miriam asked curiously.

"No ma'am," responded Diana.

Elder Miriam took Tomoko's hands, looking at them, then turned to the Doctor.

"This girl... is a repeater," she said. "She has been specifically tuned for Block Transfer Computation... Did you do this? How was it possible to achieve such a thing?" She looked at the Doctor with a shade of suspicion of what had been done, what must have been done, to achieve such a goal. Adie winced a bit, but said nothing and the Doctor moved slightly to shield her from the Elder's view.

"Not me, Elder!" he assured her. "I never muck about with biologicals! It's not my field."

"It was someone else," Tomoko said. "He did the block Transfer Computation for all of us."

"All of you? There are others?" Miriam asked, looking excited.

"Yes ma'am," Tomoko responded.

"How many?"

"There are seventy-four of us."

Elder Miriam gasped and turned to the group.

"These girls... they are remarkable. Our Chanters would have to examine them, but I believe that they could be used to amplify the Chant... we need more information!"

"I have data..." Tomoko replied and handed her notepad to the Elder.

Miriam looked through the notebook. She nodded as she turned pages, but her face grew darker and darker.

"Who... did this?"

"Someone who was quite insane," the Doctor explained. "He's undergoing psychiatric assessment right now. He's showing some progress, thankfully. A brilliant mind, but utterly mad, a very tragic case." Adie cocked her head and nodded thoughtfully. It was a tactful, but ultimately truthful statement.

"If these girls could be brought here," Elder Miriam mused, "This Lens could be tuned to be nondestructive... the effect of the Chant could be magnified..." She handed the notebook back. "I would request assistance from these girls, from this Lens. They will be treated as our most honoured guests, but we must have aid, lest the entropy overwhelm us."

The Doctor looked over at Tomoko with a smile,

"It's up to you, of course, it's your thing now, the Lens, all of it," he reminded her and Tomoko nodded gravely.

"Yes, I'll speak to everyone about it. I expect we'll be glad to help. Of course, once we arrived, we'd probably need the help of someone terribly clever ...?" she looked at the Doctor and he laughed.

"Just so happens that I know a fellow," he teased.

"I could return to Gallifrey and get them, if you all need a lift," Adie offered, looking pleased to have something to contribute.

"Of course," Diana chimed in. "That would be great."

"Then let's go," Adie said simply and they trooped off, Jake following on Diana's heels.

The Doctor looked around at the mess and shook his head.

"The Shadow Proclamation needs to be informed, they ought to send aid," he muttered and Elder Miriam nodded.

"Yes, we sent to them already and they have promised us aid. It will take some time to arrive, I'm afraid," she explained.

"You need their aid, now, though!" Dar protested, looking unhappy, and she smiled faintly.

"That assumes that any ships can get through the entropic fields and that their assistance might not end up being rather moot," she replied and the Doctor took her hands in his and looked into her eyes.

"Don't you even start to think that way!" he scolded. "We are going to make this work. Just you watch." She looked up at him and her smile spread a bit.

"Listen to the Doctor, he's right more often than not," Dar added with a chuckle.

"If you say so," she agreed, though the Doctor suspected that she was humouring them.

"You don't know me well, Elder Miriam, but I am very good at saving worlds, it's something of a speciality of mine, you might say. So, don't you dare give up! You hear me?" he informed her with a fierce grin and she looked at him in surprise and nodded.

"Yes, I can see that probability dances to your tune, young man," she replied and he laughed.

"That's the truth!" Dar snorted and the Doctor gave him a quelling look.

"Goodness!" he said to her. "'Young man'? I'm over nine hundred years old, Miriam, I haven't been called 'young man' for a very long time." She peered at him and suddenly her smile was far more genuine and open.

"Very well, I shall bow to your great age and wisdom," she teased and he gave her a rather chagrined look as Dar looked at her with a dubious expression.

"Don't know about the greater wisdom, but I'll do my best," he answered and she nodded with a shrewd look at him.

"It takes a truly wise man to know that he is a fool," she informed him tartly and he laughed.

"Oh, I have missed you!" he crowed and she smiled.

"Shall we figure out a way to save the planet, now?" Dar suggested and the Doctor nodded.

Heads together, they walked slowly towards the council chambers, discussing the best ways to deal with the entropy.

* * *

On Gallifrey, in the TARDIS, Tomoko held up her hands for silence. The Mashas, hastily gathered from all over the place, turned and looked at her.

"Any questions about the situation we are facing?" she asked and they shook their heads. "Fine. Are we agreed to help?" Evie-44 was the first to raise her hand: followed in short order by the rest of them. Tomoko looked at Adie, who nodded as well. "It's agreed then: We go to Logopolis, and provide any aid we can to the Chanters. Including Lensing, if it comes around to it."

Tomoko turned to Adie.

"Let's go." Adie nodded and put the TARDIS back into flight.

* * *

A few minutes later, Adie's TARDIS reappeared, the doors opened, and seventy-four laughing, bickering, chattering Mashas piled out and gathered near where Elder Miriam was standing, talking to Dar and the Doctor.

"Yes, the port can be cleared for arriving ships, excellent idea," Miriam was saying to Dar as Tomoko approached her and bowed politely.

"These are my sisters. We will gladly aid you," she said. "What do you need us to do?"

"If you would be so kind as to go to the amphitheatre," she said. "Your biology is unique and the Singers will be able to focus energy through you. Please, allow them to do so. It may be frightening, but you will not be harmed. Can you be brave?"

Tomoko smiled a trifle wryly, thinking over everything that they had been through.

"Yeah, I think so," she replied and then gestured to the assembled girls. "Come on! This way!" she called and they all turned to go. "Jake-77," she said, "Coordinate with Elder Miriam. You have the con until I return," she instructed him and he nodded, as she trooped across the lawn with her sisters.

For a few minutes it looked like a muddle. The Singers were shocked at their appearance, but approached the newcomers. Most of the Singers were too busy singing to speak, but began taking the girls' hands and pulling them here and there until they stood in a rough circle, whose configuration was vaguely reminiscent of that used during the fight with the Manifold.

Aislynn tried to come down from her own platform, but her legs weren't steady enough: Taydin put his arm around her waist and half-guided, half-supported her to Diana.

When everyone was in place, the Song of the Singers changed. The girls began to glow softly and then more and more brilliantly. No less than five Chanters clustered around Tomoko, who was glowing significantly brighter than the others. Soon the entire group was too blinding to look upon.

The light, however, was not the same quality as the destructive beam that had burnt down the Manifold. It was a purplish colour, almost blue. Instruments were not needed to detect the retreat of Entropy; it was possible to feel the drop in pressure in the eardrums and behind the bones of the jawline.

For long minutes, the light flared; then it faded very gently. The girls and the Singers stood looking at each other for a moment or two; and then they all toppled, sprawling out randomly on the grass. The Entropy had been dissipated at last.

The Song was over.

* * *

"Diana!" Jake cried and ran to her, cradling her against his chest and Owen came and checked her pulse.

"She's alive, just unconscious," he explained and Jake nodded.

"It was just really tiring," Tomoko, who was determinedly, if somewhat dazedly, trying to get to her feet, informed them. Dar put a hand under her elbow and Taydin picked Aislynn up

"They are unhurt, but worn out past all endurance," Elder Miriam sighed out, passing a hand over a crumpled Singer with a gentle gesture. The Doctor looked around and saw that most of them had passed out completely.

Rose came over to him, notebook in hand, jotting down equations rapidly.

"They will need rest and nourishment. They will be fine, but there won't be many people on Logopolis who will be able to Sing, or Chant, for at least the next few days," she told him with a frown.

"Which could become a problem, should another entropy bubble burst," he pointed out and exchanged a look with Rose, who began working through the equations with rapid strokes.

"There's just not enough time," she sighed.

"There never is," he replied and put an arm around her waist, holding her against him, while looking up at the skies and trying to think.

* * *

Susan's TARDIS materialized next to Aislynn and Adie's and the three of them tumbled out of it, looking around at the destruction with dismay.

"Oh my!" Susan cried and then scurried off, doctor's satchel in hand to assist the wounded, Martha, and the rest of her medical team, following along behind her.

Koschei and Guinn went to the Doctor, both looking rather unhappy.

"Gallifrey still in one piece?" the Doctor asked and the Koscheis both nodded.

"Yes, what about you lot?" Guinn's voice was soft and a bit nervous. He was looking at the Mashas in concern.

"All alive, just very, very tired," the Doctor assured them and Guinn relaxed visibly.

"Good. So, next problem?" Koschei asked and the Doctor chuckled weakly.

"Let's go keep track of those bubbles," the Doctor suggested.

Tomoko traced her way over to them in a not-quite-steady line, Dar hovering over her with a frown.

"Crisis is over for the moment," she said, her words distinctly slurred. "When's the next wave due?"

"We were headed over to the workshop in the TARDIS to figure that out," Koschei told her.

"I'm going to talk to Elder Miriam," she mumbled, "See about working an alternate configuration if we get hit in the next few hours… catch you in a few," and she turned, leaving the Time Lords to go back to their work.

* * *

Rose stood quietly, her mind ticking over the equations and she frowned.

"Elder?" she asked. "Could we discuss these equations, please?" She was trying not to be pushy or brusque, but the urgency in her voice was enough to make several of the Logopolitans turn to look.

Elder Miriam glanced at her in surprise.

"Is there a problem?" she asked and Rose nodded.

"I'm sorry, but I think that you haven't factored in the inhabited systems," she pointed out and Elder Miriam blanched.

"Inhabited!" she gasped and Rose nodded solemnly, showing her the equations she had worked out with Malla.

"Oh my," another Elder moaned and then Rose was surrounded by frantically calculating people, all trying to rewrite their equations to fit the new data. With a nod, she jumped in, nearly laughing aloud at the strangeness of it all.

Here she was, Rose Tyler, once a normal human woman from nowhere special, and now she was a mathematician, who could sense the emotions of everyone around her, could feel the weariness, the determination, the desperation of the elders and council members and she was there with them, writing equations, understanding what they were talking about.

It was amazing and as terrible as the situation was, as awful as it was that lives were in danger, she was having the time of her life.

Rose Tyler had come into her own.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25 - Tune Up

The Doctor sat by the detector, tracing out the positions of the bubbles and monitoring their integrity. Koschei was leaning over his shoulder, Guinn standing beside him, chewing on his thumb as they stared at the screen.

"These two here," the Doctor pointed out and Koschei leaned in and studied them with bruised and tired eyes.

"Yes, they're the most likely ones," he agreed.

"They could go at any time," Guinn sighed and shook his head. "The Chanters and Singers are still too weak to take on another wave."

"True," the Doctor replied. "However the Mashas are in fine shape."

"They only amplified the Chant though," Koschei argued, looking baffled, but Guinn nodded slowly.

"If we recalibrated the Mashas though, re-tuned them, they could fire the Lens at each bubble individually, in a controlled manner." Guinn felt as though every word was being dragged from him against his will, his face contorted in unhappiness.

Tomoko and Dar walked in. Like the rest of them, she hadn't stopped for a moment since arriving on the planet; however, her greenish skin tone and shadowed eyes were her normal appearance, so comparatively speaking, she looked the least tired of them all. She was wearing a long cooling coat that had tendrils of mist rising off of it in the warmth of the room. It was a great deal too large for her, but she looked clear-eyed.

Dar looked as he always did, unchanging and untouchable, though Guinn noted the careful way he steered Tomoko into the room.

"Well, I have just been through it with Elder Miriam," she told the assembled group. "We think we've worked out an alternate geometric configuration that we could use, if we get another spike before the Chanters and Singers are recovered. We would need only five Singers, with twenty-five of us per singer. It's not ideal, but it would work." She exhaled, clearly annoyed. "Never mind, you know, the actual entropy wave we'll have to deal with, if another one of these things bursts within the next day or two. You're all clever; tell me we have a plan for that."

"We… have a plan for that," Guinn said, as if the words were painful to say.

She fixed him with especially vivid eyes, and made a "bring it" motion with her hands.

"Sell me," she said simply and Guinn winced.

"The Lens can be reconfigured to pierce the bubbles, drain off the entropy in a more controlled manner," the Doctor explained, sparing Guinn the pain of having to be the one. Guinn shot him a look of warmth, feeling deeply grateful. He pulled up the charts and equations he'd been working on and waved Tomoko over to inspect them.

"What do you think?" the Doctor asked her.

She walked over and scanned the formula. Her eyes were very bright and after a few minutes she nodded.

"Yes, I get it, I think… we're discussing a recalibration? Here and here…"

The Doctor nodded and, with a stylus, began calculating the exact definitions, discussing each expression with Tomoko.

"What are your opinions of these modifications?" she asked Koschei, looking very glad to have the cooling vest, as she pulled it more closely around herself.

Koschei glanced at Guinn from the corner of his eye and then shrugged.

"We have to do something about these entropic emissions, they are far too destructive to just leave be, but there is some... reluctance to engage in a project like this," he finished, looking uncomfortable.

Tomoko turned to eye Guinn thoughtfully.

"Do you have any alternative suggestions for how these entropic bubbles may be safely removed?" she asked and he held down a spurt of anger. She had to know why he was reluctant, why did she have to force him to articulate it?

"I'll do what I have to," Guinn grit out through clenched teeth, "Just don't ask me to feel good about it."

Tomoko looked back at the Doctor's calculations, and at the entropic bubble scan.

"I agree to the modifications," she said. "We'll begin with me. Presuming that everything goes well, I will then present the plan to the rest of the group and we can begin modifications on them, if they are in agreement… and I think they will be."

Dar looked unhappy about this, but simply crossed his arms and leaned against a bulkhead, watching them all.

"Very well," the Doctor agreed, though he too shot Guinn a concerned look. "We need to set up the equipment in Susan's lab and then we can get to work." Guinn was staring at the decking like it was the most fascinating thing in the universe and Koschei put an arm around him gently.

"Guinn," Tomoko said firmly. "I am volunteering. Don't forget that. It puts us on a different footing." Her brilliant eyes searched his face.

"You're different," he agreed, "But I still feel the same." He paused and changed what he was going to say. "No, I don't really. Look,... I don't know who I am anymore, but I do know that I don't want to be the person that does those things and..." He shook his head. "Never mind, let's just do what we have to."

"Well, that is a good start. The rest will come," Tomoko assured him and he glared at her, feeling as though she was condescending to him, even though he knew she was trying to be kind. "Question for you, though: my makeup is different from the so-called "standard model"... will that variation be a problem?"

"No. The changes are biological, which is the same for all of you," he replied. "I'll just have to keep you iced for it, that's all." He was frowning fiercely at the ground, still feeling as though she was not quite understanding what this was going to cost him.

"When should I be ready?"

"It'll take a couple hours to get everything ready," the Doctor told her, his eyes moving between Koschei, Guinn, and herself with interest.

"I'll be here," she said simply.

"After her nap," Dar told her with a glare.

She shook her head.

"We have way too much to do for that," she said. "We need to organize the layouts…"

"Do I have to trank you?" he asked with a genial smile.

She paused and looked at him.

"I wonder if that would actually work," she mused thoughtfully.

"Try me," he suggested and his face was suddenly utterly blank and expressionless, his eyes flat and dead.

"That wasn't what I meant; I was referring to blood chemical composition." She rubbed her eyes, then looked at the Doctor and the Koschei's rather alarmed expressions.

"I know what you meant," Dar assured her, his voice rather grim.

"You guys really think we have a breather for a couple of hours?" Tomoko asked, obviously not seeing the warning signs in Dar that Guinn and Koschei were.

"I think that if any of us want to live, we'll let Dar tuck you into bed for a spell," Koschei told her and he was looking at Dar with real concern.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, Dar, I'll take you to my place." Tomoko headed for the exit, missing the doorframe by less than an inch as she entered the hallway.

He guided her again, getting her to her room and into her bed with minimal fuss.

"You're the only employee I have so far, I need you around more than I need Logopolis in one piece, kid," he muttered and left the room.

Guinn stood there and Koschei put his arms around him, holding him gently.

The Doctor leaned against the wall, studying the patterned metal floor, deep in thought.

"You're not that person anymore," Koschei promised him and Guinn shook his head doubtfully.

"How can I know that?"

"Because you thought of icing her down. When we were putting her personality back, it never even occurred to you. That's how much you've already shifted," Koschei pointed out and Guinn nodded against his shoulder, holding on to him, trying to believe that he could get to where Koschei was one day.

"Guinn, we're doing this to save lives and we will do it in a way that doesn't scare or traumatize the Mashas, all right?" the Doctor reminded him and Guinn took a deep breath and hugged Koschei tightly before letting go.

"Right, yes, of course," he murmured and then the three of them went back to work.

Guinn clung to Koschei's words, repeating them over and over again in his mind as a ward against the darkness.

* * *

"Koschei, Guinn, Doctor," Adie came in and smiled at them all.

They were hard at work in the workshop and the high arched ceiling rang with the sizzle of plasma fusers, the buzz of lasers, and the hum of sonics.

So far a padded bed had been added, but there were still cables trailing all across the floor. The Doctor had a bunch of conduits draped around his neck and only Guinn's feet could be seen, sticking out from under the squared off device. Koschei was leaning into the long silver box, his face creased in a frown as he laboured.

They all made various noises of acknowledgement, but none of them ceased in their efforts.

"I need a little help," she began and the Doctor looked up at her. "We have a big group of Mashas who are very nervous," Adie said. "Everyone wants to help, but a lot of them aren't anxious to be going back under the metaphorical knife. They are concerned that something might happen to Tomoko and want to observe you working on her."

"I'd rather not have them glaring daggers at me while I'm working," Guinn told her and she could see that behind the sarcasm was genuine fear. He was decidedly nervous about the whole thing.

"One way mirror?" She offered hopefully.

"Telepathic race, Adie," Koschei reminded her softly. "I can feel them all over the ship."

"One way, shielded mirror?" she sighed.

"Never mind, it doesn't matter," Guinn told her, his voice harsh and angry, but his eyes were bleak. "We have to do this, let's just do it."

Adie crossed her arms.

"It matters," she said. "You're going to be doing the bulk of the work, and it matters if you are nervous."

He nodded, looking unhappy.

"Of course, we have to do this right, so we don't hurt Tomoko," he agreed. "I'll just have to ignore them. I can do that." He looked as though he was convincing himself of it, more than speaking to Adie.

Her arms were still crossed.

"No, you don't have to do it," she said. "That's why I am in here asking, because I don't want to do it if you are going to be uncomfortable. But, they have to be somewhere, and if we don't have a gallery for them, they'll be hanging out in the waiting room… very skittishly, I might add. I just thought it would be easier if they could see somehow."

"How about we hook up a monitor and let them watch it from the lounge?" the Doctor suggested. "We can even pop popcorn!"

"Yes, that might work." She beamed at the Doctor, as if he had just come charging in on a white steed to save her.

"Yes," Koschei agreed, glancing at Guinn, who nodded as well. "But, no concession stand, Doctor! That really backfired last time."

"Oh now, that fire was not my fault!" he protested and Adie looked surprised.

"There was a last time?"

"The Doctor and I have a long history," Guinn chuckled, apparently remembering the incident well. "All of London burned down, if I recall. Wasn't even me that time."

"Not my fault! Who knew that the Thames was flammable!" the Doctor argued.

"Everybody," Koschei snarked and grinned at Adie.

"I've never heard you laugh before," Adie said shyly to Guinn. He turned and stared at her, surprised.

"No, I suppose that's true," he murmured and looked sad.

"Right. Let's get this thing calibrated properly," Koschei said, changing the subject and getting them all back to work.

They had things to do and worlds to save and their own personal demons would simply have to get in line.

* * *

Adie tumbled into bed only under protest; there was so much to be done. But the Doctor's arguments, ultimately, had won out: they were all exhausted, and exhausted people made mistakes. Given the delicate nature of the modifications to be done to the Mashas, and the number of Mashas that would require retuning, it was sheer folly not to take a rest for a couple of hours before beginning.

They had agreed to break up, nap for three hours, then reconvene and begin. Adie had been reluctant; she didn't think Guinn or Koschei would rest at all; but then Susan had appeared and promised to take them off to bed. Adie still didn't think that they were going to get any rest, but had desisted at that point.

Despite her misgivings she fell asleep at once.

* * *

"Hey," a voice called to Adie and she raised her head from the nest of blankets to find herself in a bedroll, inside of a tent. Outside, the night sky was barren of stars, a gibbous moon hanging lonely in the darkness. She turned her head and saw a pair of pale blue eyes watching her in a sun-browned face, topped by a shock of hair of so pale a blond that it was gleaming like silver in the moonlight.

He was so handsome. Her eyes drank him in hungrily and she stared at him, trying to memorize every detail of him.

He walked to her and wrapped her up in his arms, holding her against him, and she wound herself around him, trying to press herself inside of him, to reduce the distance between them to nothing.

"Oh, I have missed you!" she told him.

"Me too," he breathed out. "All I can think about is getting to you and spending the rest of my lives with you."

"It seems so strange, we've never even met!" she protested, but didn't let go of him.

"Adyra, you're a part of me and I'm a part of you," he told her, his voice shaking with the depths of everything he was feeling.

She held onto him so tightly she must have been cutting off his oxygen, but neither of them cared.

"You make me so happy," she told him.

"Forever, Adyra, the two of us," he promised. "My beautiful, wonderful, wife."

It was a long time before she was willing to be parted from him long enough to look up at him.

"Do you remember me?" She said. "When you are awake, I mean?"

"Of course, these dreams, the ones where we're together, are like I was awake," he told her. His eyes became shadowed. "I like these dreams much better than my nightmares."

"Tell me about them?" she asked and he walked with her out of the tent and pointed up at the sky.

Above them, faint, but still noticeable, there was a shading of purple in the sky.

"No one here knows what that is," he told her and she shivered.

"I know," she replied and he pulled her back against him.

"It's been moving a bit each night," he told her. "I've been having nightmares about the entropy hitting the planet."

Adie looked up, frowning at the faintly purple sky.

"The bubbles are decaying," she said. "We have to get you out… we have to get you out." She was small and frightened in that moment, looking at the ferocious purple cloud.

"I have a great deal of faith in Darginian to beg, bully, and blackmail people into helping," he chuckled softly, rubbing his hand in a small circle on her back, soothing her.

"We're all helping, or trying to… the Doctor and Rose, Susan and the Koscheis, even the Mashas want to help, we just…" She buried her head momentarily in his chest.

"The Doctor? Well, then I really am buggered," he teased.

"Don't say that!" She held onto him hard. She was genuinely terrified for him.

"Shhh, it's all right. My wretched sense of humour, I'm sorry, Adyra," he apologized, cuddling her close. "I know that they will find a way."

She held him close.

"I was afraid at first that we would never meet, that we would be parted for hundreds of years. But once we discovered the bubbles I realized we've only got a few weeks. I am so afraid for you, it is all I think about."

"I know, love, I know. I am worried sick about the people here as well. I hate the thought of dying, especially when I've just found you, but I hate the thought of all these millions of innocents dying because Rassilon was an arse," he told her softly.

"He just wanted power," she said. "If we can free you, we should be able to free the others as well. I am afraid it is an all-or-nothing sort of affair."

"That's not so bad, though, because if you could get me out, by leaving them all behind, I wouldn't be able to go. These people have become like family to me, I couldn't abandon them," he sighed. "I love you with all my being, I adore you, I think you are the most perfect being in this or any other universe, but I couldn't live with myself if I let them all die."

She looked up at him.

"I know," she said. "I would never be able to live with myself either. I would never ask you to do that."

"I know," he murmured. "Besides, the Doctor wouldn't leave them all to die either, he has this thing about innocent civilians getting killed."

She nodded.

"He'll get it sorted," she said as if she was trying to convince herself. She was still clinging to him very tightly. "I… I suppose I am a civilian of sorts," she frowned thoughtfully.

"Only of sorts, as a soldier's wife is still considered military," he teased.

She looked up at him in surprise.

"Really?"

"Of course! You know that the only orders a soldier will obey come from his CO and his spouse, which puts you directly in the Chain of Command," he assured her with an earnest look.

She giggled a little at that.

"I love you. You always know what to say to make me feel better."

"Just looking at you makes me feel better," he told her and kissed the tip of her nose.

"Oh! That reminds me… I gave Dar your message."

"Did he tell you that you'd be better off leaving me here?" he chuckled. "He knows me rather well."

"He must, he just about cried when I told him you were still alive."

Gaige was silent for a long while, his eyes shadowed.

"We went through a lot together. He's my best mate, but don't you dare tell him I said so," he warned. "His ego is large enough already!"

She giggled and then it seemed the most natural thing in the world to tilt her head up and kiss him. So, she did.

He pulled her close, hands moving across her in a way that no one had ever done before. She realized at once what he wanted and found herself mildly alarmed, because the truth was that she had never been touched. Her few attempts at hugs, since her extraction from the Command Centre, were the first times she had touched anyone in nearly five centuries. She had no idea what she was doing, didn't know how to please him, and was afraid he would be disappointed. His eyes widened as he realized and he cradled her against him.

"Sorry," she mumbled and he shook his head.

"We'll go slow, it's okay," he replied.

What came next was a revelation to her.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26 - Recalibrating

Adie woke with a start and blushed furiously. She had never had the opportunity, nor the inclination, to lie with another person. Her mind had been bent on survival for so long, that she'd ignored that entire issue for centuries. Now, she was lying in her bed, aching inside for more of the tender sweetness that she'd experienced in the dream. The shattering desperation, the connection that had sung between them, pouring light into them, binding them closer to each other, had left her craving more of the same.

She buried her head in her pillow. She wasn't sure that with all the new thoughts and experiences in her head that she could bring herself to leave her room just then.

She felt as though she were transformed, that she was suddenly a completely different person, and that the minute she showed her face, everyone would know. She lay there for a while, not sure how to feel and then forced herself out of the bed. She was being silly, she decided.

She suddenly wanted to laugh, to sing, to twirl around her room and she did giggle, realizing that she was madly in love and she felt instantly guilty for such frivolous feelings, when so much danger surrounded them all. She had better get her head on straight, and in a hurry.

She wished momentarily that she had someone to talk to, someone who'd understand. She was surrounded by friends, all of whom she liked and trusted: Susan, the Doctor, Koschei, and even Guinn to a certain extent. None of them, however, were her age.

The Mashas all treated her like some sort of saviour, or possibly a mother figure, which was not what she needed just then.

Plus, while dreams were very nice, if they didn't find his bubble, and soon… well, it would likely be the last dream she would ever have with him.

That thought sobered her right up.

* * *

Rose had chosen their room on Susan's TARDIS and her delight in simple things was in strong evidence here. She'd chosen a sort of minimalist nautical theme of painted white furniture with blue and white striped fabric. Brass lamps and warm braided rugs, it wasn't anything fancy, but it was comfortable and homey.

The Doctor was lying in the big four poster bed, cuddling Rose to him, listening to the sound of her breathing with a sharp feeling of constriction in his chest. He loved her so much that sometimes it scared him. What would he have done if she'd died? He'd nearly lost her on the Ice Planet and now those waves of entropy threatened their lives again. How could her ever live without her?

She was so fragile. Everything was perilously fragile, like soap bubbles. He would build something to stand against the darkness and then it would get swept away from him again and again.

Rose murmured and turned in his arms, snuggling closer to him, and he buried his face in her hair, breathing her in and trying to stop the frantic pounding of his hearts.

She was still alive and still here and the children were still alive, he could hear their songs in his mind, sweet and clear, and it was going to be okay. He told himself that over and over, but it was so hard to make himself believe it.

* * *

Koschei lost himself in Susan, finding comfort in their bond, in the intense closeness of what was between them. Guinn twined around them both, being pulled into the bond and tied ever more tightly to them.

He'd been scared before, scared of Guinn causing a disruption of the bond between Susan and himself, scared that she might might love Guinn more, but it hadn't turned out that way. Instead, he'd found himself expanding, growing to encompass Guinn as well, coming to love his other self and to feel protective of him.

Now his fears were all for Guinn. He hated how the guilt and sorrow was eating at him. He understood Susan's grief and pain for all these years and felt an easing in his own guilt. They had done great harm, but he could clearly see now that it wasn't who they really were and that made it so much better.

He dropped a kiss on Guinn's brow and another on Susan's lips and then thought was driven away again as the three of them moved together to wind themselves around each other.

* * *

Taydin sat quietly, watching the stars above as they peeked shyly from behind the clouds. The heavens were clear now, the roiling purple gone, and he was weary to the bone, but also feeling deeply satisfied. He had his arm around Aislynn, as she slept against him, and he smiled down at her, glad that she was so much better.

He remembered another face, another Singer. His wife, now long dead. It hurt, it twisted him up inside thinking about her. Aislynn murmured against his shoulder and he felt her shiver a bit. He carefully slipped his coat off and put it around her, settling her more comfortably against him as well.

She was lovely. Looking at her energy was like staring at a complex dance, or an equation of glorious elegance, she was fire and passion, her intellect sharp and fierce, her compassion, her kindness like a warm blanket he could curl up in.

He laughed at himself. He was over two thousand years old and was a battered and bedamned soul. He'd been used, abused, torn apart, and was barely half healed. He could hardly be a figure of romance to a girl less than half his age, with so much promise ahead of her.

Besides, he knew himself. He'd lost his wife to the Dalek Nanites, shot her himself, as she tried to murder him, the sprouting eye of a Dalek in the centre of her forehead and her eyes filled with tears.

He couldn't do that again. He couldn't care again, not so soon, and not for someone who, despite her progress, could still end up that way.

So, he sat there, in the gloom of the night, holding her as they waited for dawn, reminding himself that he was playing a dangerous game by even staying at her side, but already unable to to move away from her.

He cursed himself for a fool and watched the stars fading as the dawn came.

* * *

Tomoko woke and pulled out her notebook. The nap had helped and the speed healing that her symbiote gave her had helped as well. She tapped quietly on the keyboard, the light from the screen illuminating her face. She was still tired, but there was so much work to be done. There was always so much work to be done.

She was terrified of recalibration. She had had far more work done on her than the rest of her sisters combined, and was much more intimately familiar with the horrors of such things. However, with the situation so dire, she couldn't let her fear show, not even to her own mirror. Guinn had said he would be careful… but if he wasn't?

No, he would be careful, she was sure of that. If she tried the recalibration and said a word against it, that would be the end of it.

But just once, she wished that someone else could go first, that someone else could be the one to brave something terrifying, while she hung back and watched. Just once… For a moment she had an insane wish for something to hold. A stuffed animal, maybe. Mad, but quite clear.

She shook her head impatiently. What right field had spawned that notion? The others were depending on her. There was a lot riding on this. It had to be done, so best to set out and do it. She got a refill of her drink, sat back down at the keyboard, and continued her research on the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe. The sooner she could find any information to hand over to Dar, the better.

* * *

"So… everything is ready?"

Adie smiled at them all hopefully.

"Yes," the Doctor told her. "We've redesigned the chamber from the ground up, it has an entertainment console inside, so that they can play games, read, or do puzzles while they wait. It'll take about an hour for the changes to go through. We've got them as a gentle succession of alterations with a brief pause between each one, to allow us to monitor for any problems or issues," he explained, bouncing around the room in excitement. "We've totally shielded the equipment, so no brain lightning!" He tapped her nose with a finger, grinning like a loon.

"Great! Um… how would you feel about playing tour guide? Guinn, Koschei, I think Susan baked up some cookies for the occasion, you could duck out if you wanted."

Koschei nodded and he and Guinn exited the room and headed for the kitchen and Susan.

"That was thoughtful of you," the Doctor told her approvingly.

"We'll see if you still think so in thirty minutes." She smiled at him, walked across the room, and opened the opposite door. All of the Mashas were crowded on the other side of it.

The Doctor clapped his hands together and went into what Adie had heard Koschei call 'manic tour guide mode'.

"Hello Mashas!" he called out. "Come in! Come in! Plenty of room! Let me show you all around." Grinning like a madman, he escorted them all over to the device and began explaining it to them, fielding question, handing out jelly babies to the more nervous and both charming and baffling the whole lot of them, never slowing through the whole tour, just keeping up a running patter that was strangely soothing, even to Adie.

The Mashas had many questions. but it was Moira-3 who finally asked the one question that they most wanted an answer to.

"Look, you're expecting us to do all this, but we need to know something as well. Has the Master really changed?" she asked, frowning. The others all looked at the Doctor with a desperate need for reassurance.

The Doctor went still and looked at them all, his eyes sad and rather grim.

"You want to know if he's changed? Then the answer is 'no', he is the same person he always was. He's the same person who was my best friend when were children, the same person who fought to keep his sanity all through our years at the Academy. He's the same man that, when he got free of Rassilon's control, threw himself to what he thought would be his own death to save me. He's that man, the man who always wanted to help, to make things better for everyone else, the man who loved everyone so much that he was willing to die for them, willing to do whatever it took to save them. That's who he always was and always will be."

"Everything else? That was the controls laid on him. That was the false personality that Rassilon shoved into his head, smothering his true self under all the programming and lies. The Master was a lie. He was a construct, an artificial creation that Koschei and Guinn couldn't fight and couldn't escape. For nine hundred years they were bound and gagged and forced to watch themselves do the most appalling things." He paused.

"So, yes, I suppose he actually has changed. He's much sadder now, much more grief-stricken, far more vulnerable, more fragile than he was. Did he change? Yes and I wish to the stars above that he hadn't. I wish he was still that laughing little boy, who wanted to help everyone around him." The Doctor fell silent, his eyes damp, and he turned abruptly away from them to fiddle with some of the controls.

Adie quietly came and put her arms around him, and then Evie-44 did the same, and then he was surrounded by girls who saw he was sad and wanted nothing more than to comfort him.

He pulled as many as he could reach into his arms and held them tightly, fighting back the tears that were threatening to break out.

"But, I got all of you out of it, so some good can come from even the worst evil," he sighed.

"It'll be okay, Doctor," Adie told him.

"I think," Evie-44 added. "That we'll be okay too. All of us."

This sentiment was echoed among the group and chattered about. There was a general feeling that it would, indeed, be okay.

Someone offered him a peppermint hopefully and he took it with a somewhat damp laugh.

"Thank you," he murmured and popped the peppermint in his mouth. "Now go on, all of you, go and watch the monitor, so that we can work!"

All of the Mashas nodded, but every last one of them gave the Doctor a hug before heading out the door.

"Was that your plan, Adie?" the Doctor asked her with a raised eyebrow and a small smile.

"Um… no, not exactly, I just thought… if they could see the equipment they might feel better, and I thought that Koschei and Guinn would be nervous, and so I asked Susan if she would bake cookies… that didn't quite come out the way I had planned." She looked at him, her brows furrowed. "Is that normal?"

"Susan is a Seer, like you. She tells me that probability vectors oddly around me, that she can barely see my future, even a moment ahead, because I alter probability somehow, so I suppose it is normal," he told her, his eyes deep, fathomless, and filled with secrets.

"I am not a Seer any more," she mused, and then paused. "At least… I don't think I am." Her brows furrowed even more deeply momentarily, but then she shook it off. "If you are all right, I am going to go tell Koschei and Guinn that it is safe to come back in."

"Adie, you are a Seer, you just don't have a mind fractured enough to walk down all the paths anymore. The thing is, Susan discovered that it isn't necessary to fracture your mind to see the probabilities as they rise and fall, you just won't see them as clearly, or as consciously. Follow your instincts, it will be all right." He patted her shoulder and sent her off after Guinn and Koschei, his face enigmatic.

* * *

When Adie returned, she had not only Guinn and Koschei, but Tomoko and Susan in tow. Tomoko had been the only Masha missing from the group earlier, and now she nodded at them all.

"Everyone is settled around the projector in the other room, so it looks like the technical side is all working properly… you guys ready to do this?"

"Let's begin then, my dear, if you are ready?" the Doctor asked her with a smile, no sign of his earlier distress showing.

Susan pulled out her notepad and smiled at Tomoko.

"I'll be monitoring your vitals, so not to worry. There is an emergency cut off switch, in case anything goes wrong, and I can have you out in a trice," she assured her.

Tomoko nodded, but her sharp eyes focused for a moment on the Doctor.

"You okay? We didn't run you too ragged, did we?"

"Seventy-three of you will still never equal the running ragged that Jenny, by herself, can put me through," he teased. "I'm fine."

She gave him a quick hug anyway.

"I'm not worried about being pulled out," she said to Susan, "Just make sure you can flood it with coolant if you need to." She stripped out of her outer clothes, wrapped herself in the cooling blanket, and got up in the padded bed. "Ready when you are."

* * *

Guinn stepped back behind the controls, letting Koschei be the one to help Tomoko into the coffin-like apparatus.

"There is a game console and entertainment selection inside the lid, just relax and read a book, if you like." he told her.

"I know, I added a few things to it earlier this afternoon," she told him, and got comfortable.

"I really wish you'd ask before you did things like that," the Doctor groused. "These are rather sensitive calibrations, you know."

"Don't mind him," Koschei whispered to her. "He just likes to be the cleverest person in the room."

"I didn't touch anything except the entertainment console," she pointed out.

"Humph," the Doctor muttered and Koschei winked at her, before closing the lid.

"Second, clearing," came her voice from underneath, slightly muffled, and then, "Ready."

The Doctor started up the machine, glaring at it, and Guinn shook his head in amusement.

Koschei stepped up to his own board, grinning at Susan, who winked back at him, and then the Doctor began.

The tricky part with Tomoko was the mind/body interface, which was unstable and prone to heat spikes. Guinn had dedicated a large portion of his own work to detecting and countering these, sometimes swearing under his breath at himself for not taking the time to make something more stable in the first place.

Other than that, Tomoko did well. She had uploaded a lot of work she had meant to do, and spent an hour determinedly plowing through it. She was terrified; but only those who were actually monitoring her vitals were able to tell. She was obviously determined to put on a proper show for the camera.

In spite of how well her transition was going, Guinn's mood was growing darker and darker. Knowing he was on camera, he didn't allow the expressions to cross his face, but when he glanced up at Susan, he saw her awareness of his emotions in her eyes.

/This interface isn't going to make it. Not what we are doing this afternoon, that's fine and irrelevant. The heating factor is… damn it all, why didn't we do something more stable?/ he was frustrated out of his mind, as he sent the message, privately, to Susan. /This is not going to hold long-term./ He was beyond enraged at himself.

/I know love, I've talked to her about bumping her up to full Time Lord, but she is ... reluctant./ Susan sent back and her mental voice was tired and sad.

/What? Why the hell would she be reluctant? She trusts you! And ultimately she isn't going to have a choice./ He hated himself in that moment. /Rassilon's breath, I designed her to burn out. I designed her that way! One-time use. Fire and forget. Like plastic, to be used and discarded./ He blinked hard, his mouth a thin line.

/You were constrained by your programming, yet you still managed to create a young woman of great intellect, ingenuity, and cunning, one who could very well have derailed the entire Project. I'd say that you were fighting hard against Rassilon through it all, whether you were conscious of it or not,/ she replied gently.

/I just… I am so sorry. Rassilon's breath, I am so sorry./

/I know my hearts, my own, I know. I love you so much,/ she sent back, waves of love and warmth, flowing back to him.

"She's spiking," Susan called out suddenly, her voice calm, and Guinn worked the controls frantically, trying to dump the excess heat as fast as he could.

"She's too hot, it's going to fry the machine!" Koschei growled and added his efforts in. He ripped the control panel open and began rewiring on the fly, energy still flowing into Tomoko, while at the same time bypassing the damaged areas and shunting the heat away from the more delicate circuits.

"She's going back down," Susan updated with a tone of relief.

The Doctor nodded as the readings stabilized.

"I think we've done it," he told Guinn, who nodded back.

Koschei went over and squeezed his shoulder.

"Worst is behind us, Guinn," he murmured. None of the others would have those cooling issues after all. He then went and opened up the coffin, peering in at Tomoko.

"Oh! Wait… wait… let me bookmark…" her fingers reached out for the interface and touched a few holographic buttons, then let go. "All right, I'm ready," she sat up and nodded at him. "Nice job on the cooling."

"Come on, get out and let someone else have a turn," Koschei chuckled. "You can thank Guinn for that, he was on cooling duty."

Tomoko turned to Guinn.

"Good job on the cooling," she told him.

"You're welcome," he replied. "Just keep the blanket on for a bit, okay?"

"All right, let me go talk to everyone, and we'll send in the next girl," Tomoko said, as she threw her cooling blanket over her shoulder, and headed out of the room.

One down, seventy-three to go, Guinn thought grimly to himself.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27 - Round Two

It was the sunlight that woke Aislynn. She looked up at Taydin with sleepy emerald eyes and smiled gently. She was finding that waking up next to Taydin was becoming something of an addiction. A dangerous folly, since she knew full well that he was no proper choice for her.

"Good morning," she murmured. Her voice was still very hoarse and it hurt a bit to speak, but she simply could not keep silent. "You know you were quite magnificent yesterday," she blurted and then flushed. He hardly needed her to tell him that and he was looking a bit pink about the ears.

"I suppose you know that," she murmured and then sat up stiffly, tired, sore, and a bit embarrassed that she had blurted out her admiration for him. "Oh, my… I may have partied a little too hard yesterday," she muttered, stretching to ease her cramped back and reaching for a subject change quickly.

"Ah, the follies of youth," Taydin chuckled, politely ignoring her lapse in decorum and latching onto her conversational gambit with grace. "We sober old men must simply observe, shaking our heads and stroking our beards."

"I am hardly a spring chicken," Aislynn chided him, standing to her feet rather clumsily and wondering if she had the strength to walk to her TARDIS and collapse.

"You're more than half my age," he pointed out and put a hand under her elbow to steady her.

"That just makes you an older man," she teased, pretending not to need the assistance as much as she really did.

"Who is feeling every day of it just now," he grumbled and stretched his hands over his head until his spine cracked. He was tall and slender, his body well muscled, she knew, but turned her mind resolutely away from such thoughts.

"How are you feeling?" She looked at him solicitously. He had Sung for far longer than she had, taking fewer breaks and yet, he was still recovering from his injuries as well.

"Like I've been run over by a Battlecruiser," he replied with a groan and then shot her a small smile. "Breakfast would not be amiss."

"I quite agree, shall we see what we can do about obtaining some?" she suggested, realizing that she was indeed ravenous.

"Yes, Susan's TARDIS is over there, let's go see what the children are up to, eh?" he suggested and offered her his arm, which she took without thinking about it, only to realize that she probably ought not to be accepting his escort everywhere. It might be seen as an obvious partiality to outside observers, which was really only proper if they were courting.

"The Elysium is parked almost right next to it," she pointed out with a wistful tone, "However, it would probably be best if we checked in with the others. It was a difficult day yesterday and I'd like to make sure everyone is all right." She was hungry and still tired, but she had her duty to do.

"We've left the Doctor to his own devices far too long, that's a dangerous thing to do," Taydin reminded her, with a grimace, his tone half-joking and half-serious, and steered her towards the pillar that was Susan's TARDIS in chameleon mode.

"I am amazed the planet is still here," she teased, not certain if her were joking or not and he shot her a glance of amusement, mingled with genuine concern.

"Well, that was due to our efforts, my Lady, not his," he pointed out and she cocked her head at him, wondering what his real opinion was in this area. There were many who blamed the Doctor for the destruction of Gallifrey, was he one of them, or was he simply jesting?

"All of which are likely to be undone by leaving the Doctor to his own devices?" she enquired, trying to gauge his mind.

"Precisely," he agreed, his tone giving nothing away.

They stepped into the TARDIS to find a passel of Mashas lounging around the console. They looked up at them in interest, smiling. It never ceased to amaze Aislynn how much variety there was in the cloned sisters. Each was quite distinct and different from the others, clothing, hairstyles, some sporting tattoos or piercings, others with brightly dyed hair, but none quite alike.

"Lady A! I'm Evie, pleased to meet you" one of the clones called out. Apparently Diana's nickname for her had spread, to Aislynn's chagrin.

"My name," she said with dignity. "Is Aislynnevelynovia, and I am delighted to make your acquaintance," she replied with a frown at the girl, hoping to stop the nickname in its tracks.

"No problem, Lady A," agreed the girl, ignoring her frown with a blithe disregard that made Aislynn sigh. "Diana-37 is helping with the reboot, she's in the lounge, you need directions?"

"If you please," she replied, with a sense of resignation. However different the sisters appeared on the surface, they all had a similar disregard for the social niceties, it seemed.

"I'll take you," another clone announced. "I'm Kayla-8, this way," a girl wearing a flowing poet's shirt, a split skirt in multi-coloured fabrics, and boots, painted in swirling designs, volunteered and waved them on. "Come on, Lady A."

Aislynn followed, biting back a comment about the nickname and deciding to simply ignore it. The girl was moving at quite a clip and she was forced to lengthen her own pace to keep up.

"Lady A?" Taydin raised an eyebrow at her, matching his longer stride to hers, and she sighed deeply.

"A gift from Diana. She felt that 'Lady Aislynnevelynovia' was… well, a bit too formal for the circumstances under which we found ourselves at the time. When she inquired about a nickname, I informed her that I didn't have one." She looked at him with a grimace. "On balance, I ought to have made something up on the spot.'I have told her again and again that 'Lady A' is hardly a… dignified nickname. Unfortunately it appears not only to have stuck, but to have spread to her sisters. Perhaps I shall inquire if Susan can develop some sort of inoculation," she sighed.

"Well, probably better than 'Dian's Angel', or the other things people called you back then," he commented and Aislynn looked sad suddenly.

"The world is a poorer place for Dian not being in it," she said, her voice full of sorrow.

"She said you were an excellent student, which is impressive, for my wife had high standards," he murmured.

"I loved everything I did with her. If I hadn't loved it so much, I doubt I would have been such a good student," she said, but her eyes were shadowed. "Yet, what good did it do?"

"What good? We saved a world last night. That's what good it did. Every loss we suffered, we suffered so that others could live. The whole universe, Aislynn, every world, every being, every plant and flower, would have gone. That's what good we did. That's what good we're still doing," he told her firmly.

"Well spoken," she smiled at him, rather breathlessly now, from a combination of the spanking pace, as well as from how the light sparked in his eyes when he spoke with passion.

"Well, I have always been famed for my long-winded speeches," he sighed, flushing a bit and she was about to reply when their young guide interrupted.

"Here we are!" Kayla-8 told them with a nod. "They're all in the lounge." She then turned and headed back for the console room without another word, leaving the two Time Lords standing in the hall outside a door marked 'Lounge', in flowery letters.

"Quite healthy, that girl," panted Aislynn. "Probably a good thing on balance."

"They feel no pain, unlike my back," he joked and she looked at him in horror, as she put together some of the things she'd observed about Diana during their travels.

"Feel no pain? That's horrible! What if they were to be injured?"

"They heal so fast that they'd be better before they really noticed anyway, or so Dar explained to me," he answered. "One of Rassilon's plots, it seems. Nice enough people though," he assured her and pushed open the door.

The lounge was full of more Mashas, all of them staring at a screen that had been suspended on a wall. The 'Lounge' was done in style that Aislynn was vaguely familiar with. Earth's 1960's she was fairly sure. The eye-popping pinks and oranges, the multitude of contrasting fabrics and prints, as well as the smooth white plastic of the furniture was more than enough to startle, even without the loud bustle of chattering Mashas.

The hanging beaded curtain, through which they passed, tinkled softly and she realized that it was made with psychic shielding crystals, so that anything happening inside was dampened for telepaths outside the room. She noted the technique for her own TARDIS.

Aislynn straightened her shoulders and entered the room, refusing to look tired or flustered in front of others.

"Lady A!" Diana-37 called with a broad smile.

"Diana, my dear girl. Have you taught all of your friends that dreadful nickname?" Aislynn chided her with a frown, but nevertheless hugged her former companion tightly, glad to see that she was well and happy.

"Well, you know, we were wandering around for two years and I got to telling stories," Diana replied with a cheeky grin. "You're a hero to them, you know. You busted me out of the Loops and that's what led to all of our freedom, so yeah, they think you're brilliant."

Aislynn scowled at this.

"Oh no," she said, unable to let such foolishness pass. "This is a hero," she indicated Taydin with her free hand, to his obvious embarrassment. "I am merely a mathematician. Sound mathematical principles and a few admittedly exciting-appearing explosions do not a hero make."

"You saved my life and got us all out," Diana-37 retorted. "Sorry, that makes you a hero in my book!"

"Mine too," Taydin agreed with sparkling eyes and Aislynn could feel her cheeks getting hot under his admiring gaze.

"You speak as if there were other options," she protested. "After all, I couldn't have just left you there in that horrible place!"

"Yeah, well, a bunch of other Time Lords did leave me in that 'horrible place'. So, sorry, that won't wash, either," Diana-37 pointed out with a frown. "Give it up, Lady A, you're hero material and that's that."

Aislynn was saved the embarrassment of further praise, or from having to answer, by Adie coming in and looking around.

"Who's next?" she asked.

"Me!" called a Masha and she left the room with Adie.

Aislynn looked around at the girls.

"I was looking for Susan," she told them. "I was told that she was in the lounge…. are all of you waiting for her?"

"She's in with the Doctor and them," one girl replied, rather ungrammatically. "Should be out soon, it'll be break time once Maria is done, so the thing can recharge or whatsit."

Aislynn looked at Diana.

"What 'thing' would that be?" she asked.

"Oh! I know this one, wait, they told me, it's an Artron something or other… " She scrunched up her face, the way she did when she was thinking hard. "It about how our energy goes through our TNA, it's like an energy spinner, I think."

"And you are all doing what, precisely, with this 'Artron Spinner'?"

"Recalibrating," Diana explained with a smile, pleased that she knew that answer instantly.

"For what purpose?" Aislynn continued, hoping that light would dawn in the thicket of her confusion.

"Bubble bash!" Diana crowed with a broad grin and Aislynn attempted to follow Diana's idea of an explanation without much success.

"'Bubble Bash'?" she repeated dubiously.

"It's like a game," offered one of the other girls, "But we'll be doing it in real life."

"It's this entropy thing," Diana added and Aislynn rubbed her eyes with a weary gesture.

"As concise an explanation as ever. I see you haven't changed since we parted company," she replied with a welling of affection. Diana merely shrugged and Aislynn figured she would cease to expect the impossible from her just then.

Susan stepped through the door, followed by the Doctor, Rose, Guinn, and Koschei, all of them looking weary.

* * *

Guinn froze when he saw Aislynn, memories of his casual cruelty to her years ago making him wince and falter. The Nanites that made her safe from the Dalek's infection had forced her to obey a command from a Time Lord, any command, no matter how petty or ludicrous. He flushed and turned his thoughts away from that, trying to keep his memories of his abuse of that obedience concealed from Susan and Koschei.

He hadn't been as terrible as some of the others had been, he'd never ordered her into his bed, for instance, but he hadn't been kind either and he was deeply ashamed of that. More than the acts themselves, he was ashamed of how little he'd cared about her as a person. He remembered clearly thinking very little about her at all, only recalling her existence when he needed her for something and forgetting her completely the rest of the time.

The Doctor glanced at him, then at Aislynn, and before Guinn quite realized it, the Doctor was spouting cheerful piffle and directing her attention away from Guinn. His oldest friend stepped in and protected the former madman and, while he was grateful for the rescue, it also deepened his shame a bit that he required one.

* * *

"'Ello, Aislynn old pet," the Doctor told her with a wave. "Cheerio, pip pip, and all that," he continued and Susan looked at him in surprise, wondering why he was going into 'silly bugger' mode suddenly.

"Your 'Bertie Wooster' needs work," Susan teased her grandfather and then bowed politely to Aislynn, who returned the bow.

"So glad to see you," she told Susan and then her face froze over as she looked at Guinn and Koschei. Despite knowing who they used to be, the actual sight of the ex-Masters was apparently a bit much for her and Susan tried not to be upset about that. It did explain her Grandfather's silliness though.

"Seeking a touch of sanity in the madhouse?" the Doctor chuckled, his eyes sharp, but pretending obliviousness.

Aislynn looked away from the two Koscheis and towards the Doctor. She didn't respond instantly, just rubbing her eyes in a particularly exhausted way and Susan suspected that she was trying to come to terms with their reality and remain polite. It wasn't the warmest of responses, but she hadn't tried to shoot them either, so as far as Susan was concerned, they were already a bit ahead.

"Something like that… Diana and I have just been discussing your 'Artron Spinner,'" her smile was also wooden, but her expression brooked no inquiries and Susan breathed out, glad that Aislynn was far too gracious to cause a scene of any sort.

"Makes the Mashas sound like a salad!" the Doctor sighed. "No, we are re-calibrating them, so that Elder Miriam and the rest can get their assistance in a new configuration."

"Perhaps some tea?" Suggested Aislynn, as the girls were laughing and chattering among themselves. "It seems that I have a great deal to catch up on."

"My manners! So sorry," Susan apologized. "Let's retire to the tearoom and discuss this in a civilized environment. I'm afraid we haven't had much sleep of late and are starting to feel it." She smiled brightly at Aislynn, glad that she seemed to be regaining her equanimity.

"We've been working nonstop to get this going, only sleeping when we are ready to fall over," Rose explained with a weary smile.

"If I could be of assistance, I would gladly help out," Aislynn offered and Taydin nodded as well.

"We would be honoured to have both of your help," Koschei murmured, as they moved down the hallway to another door, while Guinn dropped back a bit to walk farther behind. Susan knew that he was nervous around new people and that Aislynn's reticence had been noted. Still, the ginger Singer was obviously fighting past her initial reaction and that made Susan warm to her.

She was leaning heavily on Taydin and her face was closed off, but she had her usual serenity back in place and Susan knew that her innate kindness and sense of fair play would win out over her knee jerk reaction to the Master. It would just take a bit of time.

The tearoom was done to look like the Ritz in London, all pink and gold elegance and gilded mirrors, only, unlike the crowded original, it was empty of all but themselves. The windows had holographic projections of the London streets of the nineteen twenties and a waiter appeared and took their order, looking strikingly realistic, in black tie and tails, despite the fact that he was merely a projection.

The Ritz was the sort of place where Aislynn seemed to fit well. She smiled at them all and took a seat in the Louis the Fifteenth style chair at the table.

"This is quite lovely, I should have a tearoom in my TARDIS as well," she mused.

"It's not used that often, which is rather sad really, but we rarely seem to have time for it," Susan admitted and the Doctor nodded.

"I'm the Doctor," he introduced himself and Susan chuckled as Aislynn inclined her head.

"It is an honour to meet you, Lord President," she said with an elegant seated bow, her head at the exact correct angle to convey her respect for his office.

"I prefer just 'the Doctor'," he replied with a wince and Susan jumped in quickly.

"I'm so sorry! I forget that you hadn't met any of the others yet," she told Aislynn with a chagrined look.

"Hard to socialize from quarantine," Aislynn replied with a smile and Susan nodded.

"So sorry!" she repeated. "This is my Tiza Rosemallatheragwynethtyler and my husbands, Koschei and Guinntashay, of the Prydonians," she introduced them and then gestured to Aislynn. "This is Aislynnevelynovialexandriarielle of the Dromeans."

There were murmured polite greetings and bows around the table. Susan didn't bother introducing Taydin, since everyone there already knew him.

Susan had been a bit stymied about Rose, she wasn't born into a House, unless you counted the Powell , being married to the Doctor ought to have made her a Prydonian, but with Malla inside her head, did that make her an Arcalian as well? It wasn't as though Malla was married to Grandfather, after all. She shrugged off her musings and returned her attention to her Grandfather, who was explaining the situation to Aislynn and Taydin.

"Now, we are looking at the possibility of at least a dozen or more Entropic Field collapses over the next week or so, which will be about three quarters of the total Bubbles," he told them with a frown.

"There are a lot of bubbles," Aislynn agreed, looking tired, and Taydin nodded.

"Yes and we're worried that some might actually be inhabited as well," Rose told them and Aislynn went pale, while Taydin sat up straighter in alarm.

"We need a way to sort them! Find out for sure!" Aislynn exclaimed.

"Got one of those!" the Doctor announced with a smile starting up.

"Oh, do you? That's terribly clever of you," Aislynn's lips curved into a tiny smile and Susan realized that she was teasing him. "After tea, I should be interested in seeing it. You look as though you need a break."

"Food too," Rose agreed. "I could eat a horse!"


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28 - New Maths

Susan ordered food for everyone. The holographic waiter nodded over their choices and departed, his simple programming sufficient to work the replicator and bring them their meals. The TARDIS provided them tea in the meantime, the pots, cups, milk and sugar appearing on the table in front of them, trans matted in from the kitchen.

Susan squeezed Guinn's hand under the table, trying to send him love and support, but he still looked a bit shaky and she wondered if there was more to his nervousness around Aislynn than his usual shyness.

"We do need a break, Aislynn," he sighed and took a sip of tea. "We're only through about a quarter of the Mashas though and we don't have much time."

Koschei pulled out his notebook and handed it over.

"These are all the scans," he told her.

"Oh! I.. didn't realize it was this bad," Aislynn had turned rather pale looking at the results.

"It's not good, no," Koschei sighed out and frowned at the screen. "I'm worried what the cumulative damage of all this entropy will do to this universe. This is an alternate off of the Main Line, created during the Time War, and it's not perfectly stable as it is." He tapped the screen, showing an area of space. "Already there is stress in the Theta waves here and fluctuations in local time." He shook his head, looking unhappy.

Aislynn rubbed her forehead thoughtfully, then turned to Guinn. He stiffened under her scrutiny and she eyed him for a moment before speaking.

"Please, tell me about this Lens. There's a lot more to it than pure data and I need a fuller understanding of it, if I am to frame the correct equations."

* * *

Guinn closed his eyes. He steeled himself against what he knew was coming and began reciting everything he knew about the Lens from the beginning. He knew that it would take quite some time to get through it all and that the telling would not be pleasant.

He described in intimate detail the creation of the clones, the terrible mortality rate, the horrific tortures he'd put them through, everything. All the blood on his hands was displayed to her with unflinching honesty.

He understood why she was asking, that it wasn't mere morbid curiosity and that every detail would help her frame her equations, helping to save billions of lives, so he spared himself not at all.

It just hurt so badly. He was bleeding inside, feeling every word like it was a hammerblow on his psyche, his anguish singing in him and even Susan and Koschei's love and support wasn't enough to keep him safe from it all.

Susan's hand in his was holding on with a desperate pained tightness and he could feel her anguish for him, as well as for the Mashas, and he hated that he was making her suffer along with him.

He could also feel Rose and the Doctor's unhappiness, their revulsion at what he'd done, as well as their compassion for what he was going through now and he wasn't sure which made him feel worse.

Aislynn closed her eyes and listened intently. She didn't speak for a long time, her expression unreadable, her lips in a thin line and her fingers templed. Taydin was nodding slowly, jotting down notes and frowning abstractly as he listened and the complete lack of judgement in their gazes did make it slightly easier for him.

Then after the first run through, Aislynn had him go back and repeat steps, go over items, sometimes a couple of times, her tone always neutral, never looking directly at him, but never looking directly at anything else either, her expression one of intense concentration, as she paced back and forth through the room.

Guinn knew that she was listening to his voice, the cadence of his speech, the words he chose, that it was all fodder for the maths and that it wasn't personal, which again, paradoxically made it easier on him. He sat patiently, repeating the pieces she asked for. At length she nodded her satisfaction with his explanation and he was allowed to fall silent, sitting trembling in his chair.

"It will take… some time to build the proper Song," she said. "We shall begin work at once." Taydin closed his notebook and looked at her.

"How long? The next Bubble will be collapsing soon," the Doctor pointed out. He and Rose were carefully not looking at Guinn's face just then and he clutched Susan's hand to ward off the feelings of shame rising in him.

"Do we have two hours?" Aislynn asked.

"I truly hope so," Rose sighed and passed her calculations to them.

"These are… oh. They are quite brilliant." Aislynn's tone was very solemn, praising the calculations, while still being worried by the situation they represented.

"Mallafressia was.. is, genius," Rose agreed.

Aislynn nodded.

"Her death was a terrible loss," she said simply.

Rose's energy shifted and the long dead Time Lady moved forwards.

"Kind of you, Lady Aislynn," Malla told her, and Rose's carriage was suddenly elegant and gracious, her speech pure Gallifreyan. "I do like to think I can still make some small contribution," she added.

"Malla! I had no idea you yet lived," Aislynn gasped.

"I'm dead actually, which is a bit of an inconvenience," Malla replied with an amused tilt to her head. "My trip through the Chameleon Arch was ended with my death, before I had reclaimed myself. Rose was human and had come to love the Doctor, poor girl, so I agreed to help her become a Time Lord." She shot the Doctor a look of long-suffering. "He's a trial, but Rose herself is a most apt pupil."

Aislynn inclined her head graciously.

"I would greatly enjoy speaking to you later," she said. "But, for now, I beg your indulgence. I must begin calculations at once. If we run out of time, I shall be forced to finish them on the fly."

"Of course, duty must always come first," Malla agreed and withdrew again, leaving Rose shaking her head in bemusement.

"Oi! I do wish she'd warn me first," Rose sighed, but she didn't actually seem upset. Aislynn nodded, but did not respond, already deep into her own calculations.

Rose stretched, leaned against the Doctor, and went back to work as well, occasionally comparing results with Aislynn, the two of them falling into the mathematics together. Taydin soon joined and then all three of them were working together, speaking the arcane language of numbers and equations with fluent ease.

The Doctor just shook his head in wonderment, kissed his wife, and then gestured to Susan, Koschei, and Guinn.

"We should let them do their work, while we get back to ours," he murmured and the other three nodded.

* * *

They escaped into the hallway, the Doctor wandering off with Koschei and leaving Guinn alone with Susan. He reached out and pulled her against him and she held him tightly, feeling his misery as he fought against the tide of his self-hatred.

"Why?" He asked her, face buried in her hair. "Why aren't you just happy with Koschei? You were happy with him before. He belongs with you. I... shouldn't be here," he choked out. His body was almost in spasms he was so upset and she wished there was some way to make him see how precious he was to her.

"I love you," she murmured, burrowing closer into his embrace. "The bond was already forming just with us being in the same universe. You're my bonded mate, as much as he is," she reminded him. She looked up into his anguished eyes. "How I can I chose which one of my hearts to rip out?" she asked him and he winced at the analogy.

She laid her head against his chest and let herself relax against him. In his arms was always the place that felt safest to her, no matter which one it was.

"I never should have stayed this long," he muttered to her hair. "I should have been gone a long time ago, damn I'm a selfish bastard..."

"You're my selfish bastard," she retorted and kissed him, pressing close and thinking thoughts of a decidedly impure nature. "I'm selfish too, you know. You're mine and I'm keeping you."

"You ought to toss me out with the rest of the rubbish," he muttered, but he didn't let go and neither was she.

"Don't you dare call yourself rubbish!" she scolded. "You're brilliant, wonderful, and courageous."

"I'm a monster," he retorted. "I should let you go, you deserve so much better than to have to repair the broken wreckage of my mind."

"I don't want anyone else but you," she shot back. "Broken or not, you are my hearts' own and I don't ever want to be without you!" she protested.

"I hate that I hurt you, I hate that my past will always be there, this monstrous thing that just waits to ambush us. I need you so much, I love you so much, but I wish I had come to you whole and sane."

"That would have been lovely, of course," she told him, leaning back again to look up into his face. She smiled and stroked his cheek. "Still, you are everything to me and I will take you any way that I can get you. Despite it all, you make me so very happy, love. I am happier now, with you two, then I have ever been."

"Even with all this?" he demanded and she nodded.

"Even with all this," she assured him and kissed him again, letting her mouth and body speak for her, convincing him of her love and devotion with the way that she wrapped herself around him.

"But, Susan, all the terrible things I did!" he gasped out and she frowned.

"Which were not of your own choosing! If you were truly a monster, then they would not bother you so much!" she pointed out and he sighed, but his face was clearing slowly as her arguments impacted him.

"I ought to be supporting you, not the other way round.," he protested feebly and she shook her head.

"Nonsense," she replied. "We support each other." She held onto him tightly, pouring her love and strength of will into him. "When I need you to hold me up, I know you will be there, love."

"I will. Always," he replied and held onto her a long time, before he finally let go.

"I'm all right now," he said although she knew that he really didn't feel all right at all. "I... had better get to work, there's a lot of things to do still."

She smiled up at him and let the lie pass unchallenged.

"You're a good person. I know that you don't believe that yet, but you are." She brushed her lips lightly across his and then gently released him. "Go on, do what you always do when you're feeling off, go tinker," she told him with a sudden smile.

"Hmph," he said and then they went to the lab to find the Doctor and Koschei to continue work on the Recalibration.

Still smiling, Susan went to kiss Koschei and then went back to monitoring the vitals of the Mashas, leaving her husbands to get on with their work and trusting Koschei to pick up where she'd left off.

* * *

Koschei watched Guinn come back in with Susan and noted the disgruntled expression with a feeling of sympathy. Their wife did have a way of turning him about. He'd be wallowing in some perfectly good misery and she'd come along and ruin it.

"Come on, Diana is next," Koschei reminded Guinn, who looked up at him apprehensively. Koschei had gathered that Guinn and Diana had something of a history between them and did his best to smooth things accordingly.

The Doctor opened the door and she strode in, looking around the room appraisingly, Jake on her heels.

"Tomoko said that this calibration thing is okay." Her eyes skated briefly over Guinn and Koschei before coming to rest on the Doctor. "So, what do I do?" she asked him.

"Get in the comfy box and play video games," the Doctor told her with a grin and Diana crossed her arms.

"Depends. What have you got? Anything good? Oh, oh, oh! I want to play that 'Adventure Archaeologist' game! Do you have 'Adventure Archaeologist?'"

"No, we don't! I do not like archaeologists!" the Doctor grumbled. "You seal away some monstrous thing and, a few hundred years later, some idiot with a spade and more curiosity than common sense has to go open up the big vault labelled "Do not ever open, dangerous!" and release it!"

"We have some good space shooter games though," Koschei told her hastily and shut the lid before any of them had to listen to the Doctor's rants any longer.

Jake just grinned and leaned against the wall, watching it all calmly. One thing that Koschei knew for a fact was that it was Jake's faith in the Doctor and the other Time Lords that had brought the Mashas around. If there was anyone who got a free pass to look over their shoulders, it was the handsome blond with his sharp eyed gaze and fierce loyalty.

Under his watchful eye, they all got to work.

Guinn's face was hard, as though set in cement, and he was radiating a bewildered pain that was heartbreaking to her. Susan stayed at his side, steadying him, a hand resting on his back, pouring strength into him.

Koschei could feel the intensity of her efforts and reached out to support her, pouring his own energy into her to bolster her efforts.

She looked up at him and gave him a fragile smile.

/You okay?/ he asked her.

/Tired, but good. You?/ she asked him back and he grinned at her with a slightly manic feeling in his hearts. He was perfectly aware of the madness of their present situation.

/As per normal,/ he sent back, amused, exasperated, and concerned for their collective sanity.

/God, I love you so much./ she replied, eyes filled with everything she felt for him. He gave her a mental hug.

/Of course you do, I'm fantastic!/ he teased, his hearts alight with the excitement of a challenge, the thrill of discovery, and the joy of doing something good and decent. /Just hold him together until this is over, then he can fall apart and cry a bit, it'll make him feel better./

When they were done and the glow had faded, they opened the container and Diana sat up, rubbing her eyes. Guinn was watching her with alarm and concern, but the Doctor seemed completely at ease.

"How do you feel?" the Doctor asked her. leaning towards her solicitously, the soft pad of his trainers on the copper flooring the only sound in the room.

"Okay," she said. "Tired though, like I had been drinking or... running a marathon... I actually want to sleep it off... does that sound normal?" she asked him and he nodded.

"We've reworked bits of you, being tired is a natural response. So far, all of you, with the notable exception of Tomoko, have been a bit sleepy afterwards," the Doctor informed her, clapping his hands together.

"Gonna go crash then," she told them with a huge yawn. "Not bad," she tossed back, over her shoulder to Guinn, just before the doors closed behind her.

* * *

As soon as she was gone, his knees buckled.

Koschei and Susan caught him as he crumpled. They supported him, both holding him, pouring their caring and concern, their deep pride in all that he was accomplishing, how far he'd come, into him. They wrapped him up in love and a feeling of safety, of eternal support.

"Guinn!" the Doctor called out. "Is he okay?"

"He'll be fine," Susan assured him and the Doctor knelt beside them, his hand on Guinn's shoulder.

/We're here,/ Koschei promised.

Guinn couldn't even answer. He was done. He didn't know how to deal with the intensity of the emotions that were consuming him. He didn't even fully know what they were. He was overwhelmed.

"We need to put him to bed," Koschei told the Doctor, who nodded and helped them get Guinn to his feet.

Rose stepped up to him and dropped a kiss on his forehead, a gentle beneficence that undid him again, so that he could barely even respond at all.

Koschei and Susan supported him through the small passageway that led from the workshop to the bedroom and together they got him undressed and tucked into bed. They both changed as well, crawling into bed and bracketing him on either side, Susan curled against one side, Koschei on the other.

He was exhausted. He hadn't slept well in days. He clung to them as if they were a liferaft in a violent sea.

/I… can't... do this,/ he finally managed a semi-coherent thought.

/Just hold onto us. We won't leave you./ She stroked the hair back from his face and kissed him softly. /Rest./

/We're here,/ Koschei soothed.

It took a long time for him to calm. He clung to them until his eyes were finally able to close.

They held onto him, just being there. Finally, Koschei drifted off and then Susan as well, curled against him trustingly, her soft breath against his chest, lulling him to sleep.

* * *

Gaige was tired, but then, he always felt tired these days. It was like there was a black hole inside of him sucking at his will and his energy, destroying him millimetre by millimetre. He dropped his head into his hands, desperate to find an excuse, an out, any reason at all why he didn't have to go to yet another briefing.

"Ghost?" Rammall's voice called and he looked up. The Captain's face went painfully neutral and he paused before speaking. "You don't look well."

"I feel horrible," Gaige admitted with a grimace and Rammall nodded.

"Noted." He seemed about to say something and then changed his mind. "You go to bed and sleep, I'll handle the briefing. After that, I'll come by and you can come home with me, let my wife fuss over you and pour soup down your throat."

"The mere threat of that makes me feel suddenly better," Gaige teased and Rammall smiled tightly at him.

"Sleep. I'll be back later," Rammall promised and Gaige just nodded, crawling back into his bed without even bothering to change.

He was just too exhausted to care anymore.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29 - Cosmic Bubble Bash

Koschei woke to find himself being used as a stuffed toy. This wasn't unusual for him, he often woke with Susan wrapped around him. What was unusual was that it was Guinn who was clinging to him like a lost child. He was vividly reminded of his early days, after Rassilon had died and he'd been dumped onto the alternate Gallifrey all alone. He'd lain shivering in the catacombs, stuck reliving every moment of horror and depravity he'd caused through nine hundred years of madness. He'd been so lost, so alone, and then Susan had come and found him.

The first year or so they were together, he'd clung to her just like this. She'd done the same to him as well, as she had been still recovering from the horrors of the Tower, Rassilon's persecution, and the War. It had been a long, slow path to sanity and stability and he still wasn't sure he was there yet, but he understood the Master's mental state perfectly. It had been his own state, not that long ago.

The Master's other arm was around Susan, clutching her just as tightly, and Koschei felt a moment of guilt. It wasn't fair. She'd spent years putting him back together and now she had to do it all over again.

/I have help though, now. You're here./ Susan replied, her mental voice still sleepy.

/I'm not sure that I'm doing that much,/ he complained and felt her wash of disagreement.

/You're the one thing that is holding him together, my darling man, you're proof he can do this, that it's possible,/ she explained and he nodded slowly.

/Yeah, that would have been nice to know for me as well,/ he admitted, thinking of all the times he'd fallen into despair, not sure he could ever make it out of the darkness and into the light. Well, if Guinn needed a roadmap, Koschei certainly had one.

/Love you, always and forever,/ Susan told him, wrapping him up in her warmth.

/You are the stars, moons, suns, and planets to me, the breath in my body, and the beat of my hearts,/ he told her back, reciting the ancient words with fervent joy.

Susan smiled sleepily at him from over Guinn's shoulder and then drifted back to sleep.

Koschei slipped from the bed and headed into the fresher. He had a lot of work ahead of him.

* * *

Gaige sat across from Captain Rammall and his wife and tried not to fidget. He was feeling better after the nap, but he still felt as nervous as a cat. He knew what was coming in the skies above them, but he had no way of warning anyone. Even if they believed him, there was nothing they could do to stop it and all he would do would be to panic the people here to no cause.

"You're hardly eating," Saddah Rammall informed him and he quickly grabbed some food and began eating, not wanting to offend her, or imply that her cooking was substandard.

"My apologies," he said, after eating a few bites of lamb stew. "My wits are begging this evening."

"You are in love, it is only to be expected," she replied and Gaige nearly spit out his food, so surprised was he.

"What? No! Of course not!" he protested and she shook her head. In her youth, Tadisa Shamanti had been quite a beauty and even now, after eight children and thirty years of marriage, the elegant Saddah Rammall was quite striking. Her hair might have gone silver, her face might be lined, but her kohl rimmed eyes were still as lovely as when she'd been a girl. Right then those eyes were looking at him with a shrewd gaze that seemed strip his soul bare.

"Oh yes, I can see it in you, your heart years for a girl who is beyond your reach," she told him in firm tones and he opened his mouth to deny it, but then shook his head and closed it again.

"You're going to be burned for a witch one day," he teased her and she laughed.

"What is her name?" she asked him and Rammall was watching them both in mingled amusement and chagrin.

"Adyra," he sighed out.

"Is her family opposed to you?" she asked next and he looked out the window at the stars above them.

"She's of very high rank and far beyond me," he explained and Saddah Rammall nodded at him.

"Then you will simply have to start climbing," she informed him and he smiled at her. "After all, my family thought that Abanni was a common soldier, with no future. They wouldn't even think of me marrying him. He worked his way up to lieutenant and they agreed to accept his suit!" She smiled at this and Rammall chuckled.

"She's leaving out the part where she refused all other suitors and swore she would die childless unless they agreed. She's always been strong-minded," he said with deep appreciation and she smiled back at him.

"Well, of them all, you were the only one with any brains," she informed him. "The others were all morons."

Gaige grinned at her and felt his hearts lighten a bit. Adie might be far away, but Saddah Rammall was right, he just had to start climbing.

* * *

Aislynn, Taydin, Rose, and Malla had been working out equations non-stop, with Taydin and Aislynn translating those into proper Songs they could use. It was intricate and demanding work, but there was nothing for it; they had no time to be timid. Each girl had to have her own Song and to build so many, in so short a time, was a monumental task.

"If we carry this line over into the next equation, it should proof," Malla told her. "Then you do that notation thing again." For all her genius in her own field, Malla was utterly tone deaf and couldn't tell an F-sharp from a C-Flat.

"We need an additional section of notation here," Aislynn was sipping tea with honey, as was Taydin, their voices run ragged from their efforts. "We mustn't forget the representation of humour, I suggest…"

She stopped, dropping the rest of her sentence, as she and Taydin looked up simultaneously. Aislynn, already pale, turned white as a sheet.

"Fetch Elder Miriam at once," she told Malla, and headed out of the room, her robes swirling gracefully around her ankles, Taydin at her side.

Malla rose with dignity, but Rose ran as fast as she could to find the Elder.

* * *

On Susan's TARDIS, hardly anything was stirring. It was extremely early, barely 5AM, and nearly all of the Mashas were asleep. Those that were awake were in their rooms, or the library, pursuing very quiet activities.

Adie had woken from her nap feeling unsettled and decided to try to make herself useful.

She went down to the workshop and was surprised to find that it wasn't empty: Koschei was there, already working, and it was his presence that coaxed her inside.

"Koschei," she said, "I thought I would see if I could be of assistance with the recalibration."

"You most certainly can be," he replied, only his lower half visible from where she stood, his upper body deep in a piece of machinery. "Can you run that monitoring board, while I do the final checks. Guinn is ... not up to it today," he continued, keeping his thoughts to himself carefully.

Adie nodded, and stepped to the equipment and got going. She was grateful not to have Koschei look at her with some pitying gaze: he knew just what to say, and this was a comfort.

"Er... has it been going badly with him? Guinn?" she asked tentatively. "I hope that... well, we're healing, most of us. I was... thinking we could eventually have a relationship. Like we have with you... given time, I mean." She paused. "Is he okay?"

"He's woken up to the realization that he's been an absolute monster for centuries and that he tortured and murdered innocent people. That is going to take him a while to come to terms with, if he ever manages it. I've had longer than he has and I still have nightmares, periods of self-loathing, horrible doubts about my present sanity, and lingering PTSD." He paused and gave her a lopsided smile. "And those are my good days."

"I bet. For what it is worth, I do think you are helping. With the Mashas, I mean. They see you and like you. I think some of them will connect you with Guinn soon. Or, soonish. At least, I hope so."

"I think so, but I also don't think that most of them see me as being the same person as him. I look different and I act so differently that, even if they know intellectually that I used to be the Master as well, it never really hits their forebrain," he told her, as he pulled free of the machinery and stood up, wiping his hands clean.

"I sometimes struggle with it myself," she admitted, pulling over a tool box. "But I had so much exposure to him, I think it is easier to see how much he has changed."

"Agreed," Koschei nodded at her and his lips twitched into a small smile. "No more overly complicated plots, or monologues about how I could rule the universe, or black suits and gloves, it's quite refreshing, no doubt," he teased and she smiled, but shook her head.

"Mostly, you are just alive again," she said, "And that makes a difference." He eyed her with a sudden sadness and opened the tool box, pulling out several components and then picking up his laser screwdriver.

"You know, when I thought she was dead, I built a paradox machine out of the Doctor's TARDIS and brought the last remnants of humanity back in time. I used them to slaughter nearly two tenths of the Earth's population in under a year, through mass slaughter at first, and then by working them to death, to build weapons to conquer the universe for me. I found a woman that looked like Susan and tried to make her over into Susan. I was a frothing maniac and it's ... painful to remember. I am deeply ashamed of everything I did then, but I can only say that Guinn was actually nicer than I was, he only killed a few hundred people, whereas I killed tens of millions."

Adie had no idea what to say to that and settled for handing him the sonic he was looking for, as he continued speaking in a soft and bitter tone.

"I can't exactly tell the Mashas that they really ought to be grateful that the Project kept him busy and out of the way, since they were the ones who suffered for it, but really, for once I think Rassilon had the right idea. Keep the grieving madman busy with something." He gave her a wry look. "It's okay, there isn't anything to say. There is no etiquette for talking with reformed maniacs about their past crimes, I'm afraid."

Adie opened her mouth and the sound of a klaxon split the air.

"How about, 'bugger'?" she offered and scurried to the nearest console to take a look. "Entropy spike…. no, entropy wave, incoming… the next bubble has burst! ETA… it's… calculating." She smacked the console in frustration.

"Never mind, get to the Console Room!" Koschei told her and took off running, with her right on his heels.

"We don't have everyone calibrated!" she reminded him, even though she knew it was unnecessary.

"No time!" he shouted back, without breaking stride.

* * *

The screams from outside the window sent Gaige and the Captain running to the door. They flung it open and ran out into the courtyard.

There was a panicked frenzy outside the walls of the family compound and, looking up, Gaige suddenly could see why.

Above them, a quarter of the night sky was blotted out by the icy cold of the entropic build up. The stars might have gone long ago, but the blackness was familiar to the people here and now suddenly there was this huge purple cloud spreading slowly out and consuming the darkness.

"Gods of Sand and River!" Rammall gasped. "Is that what the Chief Astronomer was prattling about in the briefing?"

Gaige turned to look at him and suddenly wished he'd gone to that one.

"I don't know, is it?" he asked.

"He said that this cloud of purple gas was spreading through the sky, but none of us believed him!" Rammall cried."Is there anything we can do?" he asked and Gaige shook his head, feeling a wash of hopeless despair rushing over him.

"We can finish dinner," he replied finally and turned to go back inside. "You can kiss your wife and children and tell them that you love them."

Rammall stared after him for a long while, fighting to find words and then, finally, he went inside, kissed his wife and murmured his love to her, before sitting down to finish dinner.

Gaige sat and ate, his mind racing as he tried to think of something, anything, that he could do.

* * *

The Doctor turned on the scanners and stared as one of the bubble dimensions reached critical mass. The top was already completely gone, and the sides were decaying as they watched. The entropy spike was nearly too big for the scanner to accurately assess.

"We're assembling the Lens... " Tomoko shook her head. The bubble dimension was disintegrating so rapidly that the countdown timer had already dropped to three minutes. "Can they assemble the Chanters quickly?"

The words had hardly left her lips when the TARDIS picked up the entropy wave, and the cloister bell began sounding in their ears.

* * *

"We have five minutes, if that," Lady Aislynn was breathless as she spoke to Elder Miriam, Rose and Taydin standing next to her, Rose still working on equations, even as Taydin grabbed them from her and continued to frame Chants, both of them working, even as the wave rolled towards Logopolis.

"Gather everyone you can," Aislynn continued. "Chant on the way, we'll have to do it with brute force, but the Lens is here, it will provide a focal point... "

"With the lens uncalibrated, we'll never be able to dissipate so much entropy... " Miriam protested.

"Then we re-bubble it. We can shunt it, at least get it contained in space somewhere away from inhabited planets," Aislynn pointed out.

"It couldn't stay there.., " The white haired elder reminded her.

"No, but it'll divert it long enough for us to come up with some other way to handle it," Aislynn assured her.

Miriam closed her eyes, doing the calculations in her head and then nodded.

"Begin the Chant! Off you go, be quick!"

The Mashas were gathering in the large open plaza near the TARDIS. Aislynn jogged to the centre of it, found the tallest stone she could, stood on it, and began Singing, calculating on the fly. It was horribly dangerous, but no other course of action was possible.

* * *

"Can we fire the Lens?" Adie asked breathlessly.

"We can, but it won't be nearly as effective," the Doctor told her.

"We need to get the TARDIS away from that entropy field," Koschei pointed out and the Doctor nodded.

"What? Why?" Adie asked and Guinn smiled tightly at her.

"The field generated by a TARDIS and the energy of an entropic wave are not exactly compatible," he explained. "The resonance from their collision could disrupt the Songs and Chants."

"Get to the Mashas now, Adie! They need you to fire the Lens. We'll take off, I'll fly your TARDIS, and we can tow the Elysium."

Adie pressed the TARDIS key into the Doctor's hand and was off like a shot across the grass. the Doctor ran out after her, headed to her ship and Guinn and Koschei exchanged looks before they set about getting the ship launched.

Koschei was swearing like a fiend, his fingers flying across the controls as he launched the TARDIS into flight. Susan ran into the console room and they began piloting in grim silence.

Soon, all three TARDIS vanished with the familiar grinding noise

* * *

On the field, the Lens was arranging itself. Chanters were gathering from every corner of the city, adding their voice to Aislynn's. The sky was darkening to an eerie purple shade: the entropy wave was coming.

By now everyone had arranged themselves in concentric rings: it was Martine-74 that began the sequence, glowing softly, and the others lit in a long spiral, going in towards Adie, who stood in the centre; it was a very beautiful thing to watch. Adie just hoped they would have enough time to get to full capacity before the wave hit.

The Mashas were strung out in the new pattern requested by the Chanters, sparkling like dewdrops on a spiderweb and shining like multi-coloured diamonds. Those that hadn't been calibrated yet were still gleaming golden, like tiny suns burning, but scattered among the golden points were those whose recalibration had shifted them into hues of every imaginable colour; blues and greens, reds and purples, silvers, coppers.

Only partially calibrated, the rising energies were thinner, almost delicate, compared to what they had been before. The Mashas were calling up the power in themselves, doing what they had been created to do, until the power cracking along their skin lifted them a few inches from the ground.

The Chanters, voices raised in a throbbing pulse of sound and power, sent the building energy outwards and into the Mashas. In the centre of it all, Adie flickered and flamed like witchlight, all the many colours flowing into her and coruscating around her like the Aurora Borealis.

The Chant lifted the Lens high into the atmosphere, then into the stratosphere. The Entropy couldn't be allowed to approach the ground. It was just possible to detect the faint outline of a sphere around them as the Chant maintained a small bubble of breathable air around them.

The entropy wave was black and purple and angry, freezing everything unfortunate enough to get in its path, until it neared the Lens. The energy of the Lens was pure heat and the area of freezing cold was trying to equalize the energy in that space. As much energy as they poured into it, the wave ate it up, warming a bit, but still so incredibly cold that even the Mashas could feel it, like an icy chill on their skins.

The Chanters used the Lens to wage a great battle against the entropy wave, but it was very much like trying to fight a forest fire with a garden hose.

* * *

Gaige heard the screams, felt the terror of the people around him, saw the Rammall children rush in to clutch at their parents, and knew that even if he exposed himself as an alien to them, he had to do something.

He rose, bowed to them, and stepped into the perfume scented night, looking up, as death rolled forwards implacably towards the world he had called home for more than a hundred years.

He closed his eyes and reached out, calling to his bondmate, calling for help, not just for himself, but for all of them.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30 - Choices

Adie floated, fighting the wave of icy cold, and then, in the midst of the storm, in the raging blackness, came a voice.

/Adyra! It's Gaige, we're in trouble! The Entropy is spreading fast! We need help!/ his voice was in her mind, the singing awareness of him was in her blood and she forgot everything else. Forgot the entropy wave, forgot the Lens, even forgot her sisters, the imperatives of the bonding overriding everything.

"I've got this! Go! Go!" she heard distantly. Some part of her self recognized Tomoko's voice, but it didn't matter. She didn't care. The golden thread snapped into place between them, humming with life and energy, and she was gone, following it.

The energy that Adie had been channelling shrieked down the line of the Lens, but Tomoko stepped into it, gathering up the strength of hundreds of Chanters and the whole of the Lens' energies and pushing it through her far more fragile human frame.

"I've got this," she called to the Mashas, and although they all knew that this was less than true, they had no time to argue, as the gigantic wave pounded against the Lens again.

* * *

Adie was somewhere else, somewhere formless and void and Gaige was there, his arms open. She threw herself into them and hugged him tightly.

"What is it? What's wrong?" she asked.

"The entropy build up, it's already reaching dangerous levels, it's getting near to the third sun. If it hits that sun, it will nova and we'll all die, love," he told her, his eyes filled with his fear for his friends.

He was sun-browned and the contrast between the deeply tanned skin and the pale grey eyes and white blond hair was striking. There was something solid about him, as though he was made of granite at his core. Steady, dependable, calm. She hadn't realized how desperately she'd needed that in her life. It was like he was the last piece in a complex puzzle. Holding him, she could almost hear an audible "click", as he fit into the part of her that had always been waiting for him.

"No, you won't," her eyes searched his face. "Show me, let's get as close as we can. The others will know where I am. They can aim for the spot where I settle. There's no time to explain it, just… just show me!"

"Of course," he replied and reached up to brush his hands against her face, taking her deeper inside of him, showing her everything she needed to see.

She pulled his arms around her and stood in the spot she thought best, her face turned to the sky.

"It's going to be quite a lightshow," she told him.

He smiled. It lit up his face, his eyes, and his energy danced around her, a whirling, joyful jig.

"I always did like fireworks," he admitted, still grinning at her.

She tried to smile back at him and she just couldn't. She knew what this was going to do to Tomoko. She had seen the specifications. She loved Gaige desperately, and wanted to save his world… untold millions lived here. She wasn't exactly ordering Tomoko to do anything: she could always choose not to fire the Lens. Except that she wouldn't: Adie knew her too well to believe otherwise.

After so many centuries of forced helplessness, unable to save anyone, Tomoko would jump at the chance. Adie just didn't want her to die. She swallowed hard.

"The Doctor will get it sorted," she said, mostly to the fabric of his shirt. It was easier to believe that when Gaige had his arms around her.

* * *

Tomoko could hardly hear her own words in the maelstrom. Thankfully everyone had had the sense to grab their radios on the way out.

"Punch it!" she howled, so that it could be heard even over the din.

"Tomoko, we don't need it against the entropy and we'd never get full power anyway... and... you'll…," Diana-37 called back to her.

"I know what I'm doing! Just do it!" Her mind was receiving the images from Adie and her eyes were fixed on a point in the sky, from which she never wavered, never even blinked. If she lost it now, she would never find it again. This was their one and only chance. Millions of lives depended on her and she would not let them down.

There was a silence, and then everyone began spinning up.

The entropy wave had nearly pounded itself into oblivion against the Lens and the Chant nearly had it contained.

Tomoko had channelled those energies, but she could feel herself unravelling. The slug was scorched and weak, her skin was peeling in places, her hair was gone. Had she been capable of feeling pain, she would have been in agony. She barely had enough strength to heal herself from her present injuries and now she was asking for even more.

None of them, not even the Chanters below, understood what was going on, but Tomoko had no time or energy to explain.

The pattern of the Lens changed, the Flower of Life unfurling its complicated petals: and then the destructive Blossom flickered into life, the deadly beam arcing across the sky.

It was nothing like full power. Without Adie, who was held in place by the Chant, but was not in her body to maintain consciousness, there was no way to fire the Lens properly. No one understood why Tomoko was insisting on firing it at all.

For fifteen seconds the beam maintained its brilliant hue.

Then, for the first time, Tomoko could see. Really see, see beyond the Veil that had plagued her eyes for so long. How miraculous the world was; how remarkable and beautiful. She had never dreamed it was so lovely.

"Get ready for the second wave," she said dreamily, and sensed, rather than heard, the confusion of the others. What second wave?

The arc of the beam shot through space, and it was as if her line of sight followed it.

It was a glancing blow on the barrier to another bubble universe, nearly a miss; but it was enough to make the tiniest of slits. Entropy spilled forth at once, leaking out into the larger universe, but out of the bubble.

There were six inhabited Bubbles and each of them was threatened. Tomoko could see them all, could feel the fear of the people trapped in them, as the clouds of purple death rolled onward towards them. She could see it and, as long as her strength lasted, she could save them. She was finally able to act, after centuries of watching people suffer and die and being unable to lift a hand to stop it, she could finally do something.

So, she did something and gave everything she was to do it.

* * *

Adrya had promised Gaige a lightshow and a lightshow was exactly what he got.

It started with the appearance in the sky of a fourth sun, brilliant and blazing and the white-blue colour of a snowy morning, and then a solid cylinder of light arced lazily across the sky. It flashed in between the Greatest and Least suns, missing them by a hair's breadth. It went straight across the sky, from one end to another and, at the far end of the arc, yet another sun formed.

The roiling purple cloud was pierced by the beam and there was a sudden unbearable pressure, like everything everywhere was straining to expand all at once.

For long seconds the banner blazed across the sky and then it was gone, suddenly, as if a switch had been flipped. With it the cloud too was gone and then, a miracle occurred.

There were stars in the sky again. Thousands of them, millions of them, glittering like jewels in the firmament. Eyes that had only ever seen the vast velvety darkness hanging above them were enraptured by the sudden splendour of light and colour that exploded into existence above them.

"Not too shabby," Gaige chuckled softly and kissed his wife.

Adie held onto him, knowing what it was going to cost to bring back the stars, and cried and cried and cried.

* * *

A voice sounded in Tomoko's ears. Perhaps it was her own voice. She wasn't sure; she didn't recognize it.

"One," the voice said, and Tomoko knew that the bubble in which Adie's bondmate was housed had been pierced.

But it wasn't alone. She moved her eyes and the beam followed, flicking faintly in the moments of time in which it had no target, reappearing again once a new target had been sighted.

"Two," the voice said after a moment.

A third bubble followed. A forth.

The beam was losing coherency, or else the shells of the bubbles were getting thicker. Still, she would not avert her eyes. It was the only chance that those millions of lives had. If she failed, they died, the equation was just that simple. Her life balanced against theirs was a tiny price to pay.

Pierced at last, only one bubble remained. To her dimming view it looked like granite.

"Last one," said the voice, rather garbled now.

To her surprise, the power tried to retreat. She could feel a desperate denial rising in the Lens, as though other voices were crying out against her destruction.

She didn't let it. She wouldn't let go, directing it, forcing it, bending it to her will. Drilling she wanted, and drilling she would have, other considerations be damned.

"People are dying!" she shouted, or thought she did, she couldn't be sure.

The beam had been whittled down to a bare thread, but now it surged up again, burning through her like a laser, cutting away at her body, her mind, unravelling her, but it was enough, and she had just enough, to send it arcing away to slice open the last Bubble.

Perhaps the blackness was entropy or perhaps it was in her eyes; but the entropy was the most beautiful and terrible thing she had ever seen, fluorescing in impossible colours, threaded with lightning, humming with auras. She felt no pain, nothing but pure wonder at the beauty of it all, and so she rested, just watching in fascination.

She was falling, and all around her, her worn and battered sisters were falling too.

She thought of Dar and smiled, wondering if this was how the world appeared to him.

Then the darkness seemed to be gathering more thickly than before, and the colours were all swirling together like the buckets of paint that Kayla-8 had spilled that one time in the desert; and she closed her eyes and slept.

* * *

Susan stared in horror at the screen, seeing the flickering light of the Lens faltering and dying.

"Tomoko!" Dar cried out, his face white and his eyes staring.

"On it!" Susan told him and they all three worked together, doing the incredibly delicate job of rematerializing.

To them it looked as through the charred and barely human form of Tomoko faded into existence on the floor of the console room, through it was really them reforming around her. She lay there, looking like a roast that had been left in the oven too long and Susan prayed that the healing factor of the Mashas was up to this. She glanced at Guinn and prayed that he'd been monster enough to save her life.

Dar scooped her up, his face like stone, and ran for the medi-bay, Susan at his heels, already thinking through what needed to be done.

"Lab!" she instructed him and he turned and angled for it instead.

Koschei and Guinn were already headed there as well, ready to do what needed to be done to save her life.

The Mashas were in various states of exhaustion, but were healthy enough. The Doctor had to do some fast hopping in Adie's TARDIS to pick them all up.

Adie was completely unconscious... but even unconscious, she was looking better. Pieces were mending; light was returning to her.

Susan ripped open a panel at the back of the Lab and yanked out a specially modified cryo coffin. Without even asking, Dar set Tomoko inside of it.

"Dar, this might work, or it might not," she told him, but had no time to even spare him a glance as she set to work.

She looked instead at Koschei, who nodded.

"We'd better be quick about this," he muttered, while Guinn stared at the apparatus in interest.

"I'm starting the sequence," Susan murmured and then she and Koschei fell into gestalt, moving so deeply into each other that the edges between them blurred and vanished. They went to work in silence, no longer needing verbal cues between them.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Dar finally asked and they both looked at him and spoke in unison.

"Making her a Time Lord."

"What is this thing anyway?" Guinn asked, gesturing at the cryo-coffin.

"Project Uplift," Dar ground out, from where he was holding up the wall and Susan winced.

"Fancy title for another of the Rani's insane inventions," Susan explained. "They called me in to consult and after I got through throwing up my lunch, I was able to give the mad cow the last piece she needed. Still makes my skin crawl, just thinking about it." Even as she was speaking, they were both still working, moving in perfect unison, one mind in two bodies.

"So, it was what?" Guinn asked.

"We needed more Time Lords," Susan told him in a flat tone, but he could feel her unhappiness as she spoke. "Rassilon ordered the Rani to find a way to ensure that all Gallifreyans could be properly triggered into full Time Lords. So, she did. Nearly depopulated the whole of the Wastelands in trying, but she did finally manage it." She waved at the coffin. "Forced Artron injections. It's actually not far from just sticking a person into the heart of a TARDIS and crossing your fingers, only we can slow the process down and control it a little better."

"A little better?" Guinn asked looking at Tomoko in alarm.

"A very little better," she admitted. "It's a kill them or save them sort of thing. I wouldn't be doing it at all, except that even if she wasn't damn near dead right now, she'd burn out sooner or later. This gives her a chance at a real life."

"Not a great chance, but a chance," Dar added, his eyes grim.

Guinn hadn't had the opportunity to observe the gestalt at work before and he was staring at it now, unable to look away. He couldn't pull his eyes away from Susan, how lovely she was. The Gestalt was... a thing of beauty.

Koschei was a nebula of coruscating colour and light and Susan was a glorious golden sun and together they merged into something so much brighter and more beautiful than either of them was alone. It was like an Aurora Borealis, but far more intense and he was leaning forward a bit, unconsciously, wanting so much to fall into it, yet also frightened by everything that it meant.

In that moment, he was deeply and inordinately jealous of Koschei, but on the heels of that thought... with something of this beauty and power at her disposal, why did Susan keep insisting that she needed him around? It was unfathomable.

He forced himself to turn away and his eyes fell on Tomoko. the sight of her, burned and nearly dead, was... a kick in the gut, knowing that a few short weeks ago, he would have written her off as no longer 'cost effective' and simply run off another copy. It was almost enough to make him ill.

Koschei closed up the capsule and checked the leads, as Susan began cycling up the Artron energy generators.

She looked at Guinn and smiled, extending a hand to him, offering him a place in the gestalt, if he wanted it.

"I .. don't know why .. " He held back, trying to understand why she would even offer and after a long and doubtful look, he took her hand.

"Because we need you, of course," she replied and he shook his head, not quite believing it.

He was drawn in and it was like nothing he'd ever known before. He was expanded, but also enfolded. Information and knowledge became part of his own understanding, without the need for cumbersome explanations, and soon he was moving in synch with them, working to save Tomoko with the same calm surety that they were, one part of a far, far greater whole.

It was an experience that was both wrenchingly painful and also amazingly good. For the first time he could try and save one of the Mashas, rather than destroying them. It brought such emotions that he didn't know how to handle them... but, the others did.

Wherever he was weak, they moved to shore up his strength; when Susan faltered, the memories of all the terrible failures with the process haunting her, the other two moved to support and comfort her. It was a true joining, filled with all the complexity that their three-sided relationship had engendered, but with so much joy and love underneath that it also felt supremely natural.

/This is going to be difficult,/ Susan's voice in his head was determined, but he could also feel her doubts and fears. Tomoko was so out of balance that conversion was going to be exceptionally tricky. Guinn could feel Susan struggling and could even sense that she was leaning on his knowledge heavily as she worked.

/We can do this,/ Koschei assured her and Guinn could feel him shoring up her confidence with his own faith in her. There were other complicating factors as well. Tomoko was so damaged and she had been compressed so tightly that trying to moderate the rate of her expansion was a bit like dumping a box of Mentos into a bottle of diet coke, and then trying to control the results.

/Don't let her unfold so fast!/ Susan warned and Guinn moved to slow the Artron injections, trying to reduce the energy input.

/Easy for you to say,/ he snarked, trying to lighten the mood and she chuckled, even though her mind was lacking in much mirth just then.

Guinn turned his full attention to the glowing ball of light that was Tomoko, determined to make this work. He knew most about how she was built and he put that knowledge to good use.

He was forcing the conversion through her system. Using the energy like a laser to burn out the things he'd built into her. The Artron energy fried the already half-dead slug completely. He watched it die with mixed feelings. Even as she had needed it to counteract having her pain centres burned out, it had also kept her from ever being able to live a normal life.

/We can't leave that in her,/ Susan pointed out and they worked to disintegrate it, so that it wouldn't interfere as she expanded.

/She's expanding too fast! She'll burn up!/ Koschei warned and Guinn lowered the rate of injection again, fighting to keep her growth slow and steady.

/She's been compressed too long,/ Susan groused, as they warred against the way her blazing light was trying to supernova in its desperation to break free. The three of them labored over her, each adding their expertise to the mix. Susan's genius at the biological end, Koschei's own brilliance with engineering, Guinn's specialized knowledge of the Mashas, it blended together, the three of them sparking off of each other.

/I'm sorry,/ he replied and they both pulled him into them even more tightly.

From so close to them he could finally see the damage in Koschei and Susan as well. It was there, clear and bitter tasting, all that they both had gone through. Looking between them, he saw for the first time how much alike they all were. He would have given anything in the world to erase that pain, but it was beyond his power.

/We are together,/ they murmured to each other and went back to work.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31 - Of Cocoons and Butterflies

It was a near thing in the end, a very near thing indeed. Several times they were obligated to stop what they were doing and restart her cardiovascular system.

After many hours, she was stable enough for them to risk taking their hands away from the controls.

Dar had remained throughout the whole process, leaning against the wall, watching them with an opaque gaze that gave nothing away.

"Well?" he asked finally.

"I think she'll make it," Susan slurred and Guinn nodded weakly. Dar stepped away from the wall and looked at them.

"You all look like hell," he pointed out and Guinn nearly smiled at that.

Susan stood a moment longer and then crumpled like a rag to the floor.

Koschei scooped her up, his face drawn and white, trembling as he stood there.

"Come on, both of you," Guinn corralled them both. "In bed. This very instant."

"I think that's a good idea," Koschei muttered, following Guinn, his steps unsteady, but his grip on Susan tight and unyielding. Dar put an arm around him, knowing better than to try to take Susan from him and Guinn guided them both to the bedroom.

Between them, they got Susan and Koschei tucked in, made sure that they were all curled up and sleeping. Guinn didn't want to sleep, although he was bone-weary. He wanted to guard them, although he wasn't sure from what, and be sure they were all right...

He waited until Dar had left and then pondered the situation.

The Gestalt had given him something else as well.

Knowledge.

He knew why Susan's light was so much dimmer than he remembered.

She'd given so much of her life to save Koschei, that she had nearly weakened herself too much to be able to regenerate.

He waited until he was absolutely positive that they were completely asleep, then crawled into bed with them. He had eleven more regenerations. That energy could be put to a better use.

Delicately, careful not to wake them, he accessed the gestalt to make sure they were sound asleep and poured his own energy into them. After all that they had given him, he finally had something that he could give back to them.

A regeneration apiece, slowly, gently, making sure not to disturb them, he gave them the only gift he had to give.

When he was finished, he curled against them and finally slept.

* * *

"So, what do we know?" the Doctor asked wearily, running his hand through his hair.

Aislynn looked absolutely terrible. Her eyes seemed sunken in her head and her glorious voice was now a bare rasp. Taydin was still Singing, and she looked ashamed that her own voice had given out at last.

"Six entropy waves," she said hoarsely, taking a sip of her tea with honey. "Those girls… the Mashas… handled them magnificently. We should have a breather, but the cost for Logopolis has been fearsome." She took another sip and coughed.

"Two hundred Chanters have been hospitalized, fifty of them critically," Elder Miriam told them, her own voice cracked and reedy. "That's on top of thirty deaths." She shook her head, looking utterly shattered by it all.

"The educational system, all of it, has been shut down," another Elder told them. "Schools are closed, as teachers have been converted to do bits and pieces of the Chant. Children as young as five are Chanting on shifts that last as long as eight hours. Adults are on duty for thirty-six hours or longer."

"Omega," the Doctor groaned.

"Doctor," Aislynn whispered. She was clearly trying to talk, but her voice was having none of it.

"Use a pad, Aislynn," her told her and passed her one to use, his smile wryly sympathetic.

She nodded and took it gratefully. She began typing out her words, but for all of her skill at Block Transfer Computation, she wasn't at all a clever typist, so it was slow going.

"The Bubbles that were pierced were the ones that were inhabited," she typed to the Doctor. "There is no telling how many lives have been saved, but the society of Logopolos is collapsing around our ears. We must be able to do something to assist further."

"Of course. I sent an SOS to the Shadow Proclamation and the Federated Worlds," he told her. "I'm hopeful that they will send support soon."

"In order to sustain this Chant, all activities have been stopped that are not directly related to the production of food or medical care," Miriam told them. "All travel between cities has been suspended. Marketplaces are shut down and rations are very tight. I hope that the aid you called for comes soon."

"It's quite desperate really, goods are impossible to obtain. Even the black market, which should be thriving under such circumstances, is barely limping along," Elder Ruta informed them.

"The number of Chanters has always been small," Miriam added. "Now there aren't enough to go around. All of us are doing as much as we can, but, there are simply too few of us to put out all the fires."

"We've been monitoring the entropy ball you've got wrapped up, its remaining in about the same location, at about the same size." the Doctor told them. "It's almost completely inert, and even as shaky as your Chant has gotten, its enough to keep it anchored, so it doesn't drift."

"We are barely holding on through, if it was to be disturbed, or to become active at all, Logopolis would be entirely unable to stop it," Miriam warned.

"That's bad, Elder Miriam, because it's within two parsecs of some very heavily trafficked space lanes," the Doctor informed her and her shoulders sagged with weariness and despair.

"Doctor, with personnel levels the way they are, moving it is simply out of the question! We're just not strong enough!"

"Even setting aside the Entropy Ball," Ruta sighed. "The waves have done this area no good. Static entropy levels for this entire area of space have jumped by more than four hundred percent, something that we should have been able to take care of under normal circumstances, but that is impossible to deal with at all now."

"How are the young ladies?" Miriam asked the Doctor, her eyes searching his face for any sign of hope.

"Well, the Mashas are tough. They were really built to keep going, but for all their resilience, they're a bit shaken," he admitted. "Adie losing consciousness and Tomoko taking over the routing of power has thrown it all totally out of alignment. We are going to have to recalibrate every single one of them all over again, before we can even think of firing it up. Most of the Mashas have been injured fighting off the series of Entropy Waves, none as badly as Tomoko and their healing factor has got them nearly back on their feet, but all are suffering the effects of the lack of alignment."

"Oh?" Miriam asked in surprise.

"A lot of them have headaches, or aching joints, or mild pain for those in the outer rings, but the ones who were nearest to the centre are really not happy. They've got migraines. It's almost like the entire group has caught the flu," the Doctor explained.

"What about the inhabited worlds?" Aislynn asked, her fingers tapping out the question unsteadily.

"Dropped into the real universe, but who knows where exactly," he shrugged. "They were like the Loops, in that they were designed to go back to wherever they came from when released, but who knows if that worked. If the Shadow Proclamation suddenly finds a bunch of new solar systems, well, then we'll know for sure, but until then?" He held out his hands helplessly.

"Is there any good news?" Elder Miriam asked and the Doctor grinned at her.

"Well, now that you mention it, I do have an idea about that big ball of entropy," he told them with a grin.

* * *

Guinn was standing in Castrovalva, watching space shatter around him, turning into a kaleidoscope of warped reality. This time, the Doctor and his companions didn't escape. He watched the Doctor being torn to pieces by the twisting of space, he stood laughing while that big mouthed Aussie girl died screaming, then chortled at death of the know it all boy, and he enjoyed every minute of it... until Nyssa fell.

Then he stopped and stared at her sightless gaze and remembered her as a child, playing in the gardens of Traken. He fell onto his knees beside her, clutching her body to him and rocking back and forth, screaming out her name and weeping bitter tears for all that she could have been.

Just as he was the Master, there was still some part of him that was also Tremas and that part woke in him and howled his grief at the universe.

He jerked awake, painting and shaking. Beside him, Susan lay curled in sleep next to him, with Koschei sprawled untidily on his other side. His first urge was to wake them, to make love to them, to fall into them and drive out all the pain and misery he was feeling, but he saw the bruised look around Susan's eyes, the parchment-like quality of Koschei's skin, and stifled the urge. They needed to rest, not to have yet another attempt at sleep interrupted because of his pain.

Silently, he rose, got dressed, and headed down to the medi-bay.

Guinn grabbed a stool and settled onto it, his eyes glued to Tomoko's chamber. The soft hum of the device soothed him. His daughter was still well and alive. That was good. He could look at her and know that he had made things that were good and wonderful, that not all of his creations were evil and destructive.

He reached out to her energy, letting his mind observe the process of her expansion into five dimensions. Tomoko was still unconscious; but even so, her progress was remarkable. Even in her sleep, she was growing, because she could grow, because, at long last, there was room enough to be able to grow. Observing her energies was like watching a celestial version of a seedling under time-lapse photography. It was fascinating to watch. Tendrils and feelers were going here and there, weaving into each other, sprouting leaves and flowers, just building and building and building.

This was his daughter, released at last from her straight-jacket, from the tiny cage in which he had forced her to spend her entire life, on a sadist's whim. He just sat in a chair and wordlessly watched his daughter struggle to build herself into something she should have been allowed to become in the first place.

* * *

Dar had left Susan's TARDIS, unable to explain the strange restlessness he was feeling. The Doctor was standing outside of Adie's TARDIS talking to Rose and several other mathematicians and he paused, wondering if he should join them and then moving forwards, not sure why, but just really needing to be doing something.

"Right, that proofs," Rose was saying to a robed Logopolitan who nodded at her with great respect.

"Can you accomplish this task?" he asked her and she looked at the Doctor and then over at the TARDIS that stood nearby.

"Yes, she's quite confident," Rose explained and Dar was surprised anew by how she could hear and understand the corals so well. It wasn't something he could wrap his head around, but he appreciated the usefulness of it.

"Anything I can help with?" he asked and the Doctor turned beaming eyes on him.

"A volunteer!" he crowed and Dar wished suddenly that he'd just gone to bed.

* * *

Susan woke to the feeling of her TARDIS in flight and frowned. She looked around and realized that Guinn wasn't in the bed. She felt for him and his guilt and sorrow pulled at her. She kissed Koschei softly, leaving him sleeping, and slipped from the bed, dressing hurriedly, and headed for Guinn.

She would take care of her husband and then she would go see what her grandfather was up to this time.

She smiled softly to herself, as she walked briskly through the wood panelled halls, the delicate Art Nouveau lamps swaying slightly above her. For all that her grandfather was ancient, wise, and rather impressive, he could also be quite a handful.

* * *

The Doctor frowned at the screen. They were hanging in the Void again, the TARDIS monitoring the situation from a distance, while they worked out the final numbers for the translation. There was a part of him that knew he could probably have run the numbers for himself, but he stepped back and let his wife do them instead.

Rose Tyler, the girl who'd failed her 'A' levels, was standing by the TARDIS console, chewing her lip, as she did advanced maths, taught to her by an alien immortal, who resided in the back of her head.

"Rose?" he asked and she waved him off, still doing calculations, with her face screwed up in concentration and he smiled at her with a rush of love and affection. It humbled him daily that she had gone through all of this, just to be with him. She'd changed species, evolved into a Time Lord, accepted a dead woman into her head, all to be with him.

"Boggles the mind," Rand muttered from the back of his own mind and the Doctor was startled to hear him. Rand so rarely came forward that he often forgot he was back there.

"She loves me," he replied to the dead Time Lord, who snorted in amused disbelief.

"Like I said, boggles the mind," he snarked and the Doctor sighed.

"I hope you are having fun back there," he grumbled and the distinct impression he had from his passenger was one of sudden stillness and quiet.

"The back of your brain is not exactly a joyride," he retorted softly and the Doctor winced.

"No, I expect not. Sorry about that," he sighed back and then there was silence once more.

Dar was leaning against a wall, frowning fiercely at the screen.

"This is bollocks," he growled and the Doctor nodded, his attention returned to the immediate problem.

"Let Rose finish and we can shunt it away to somewhere uninhabited and safe," the Doctor assured him and Dar shook his head.

"She's gone through hell," Dar pointed out, gesturing at Adie's TARDIS, where it hung in space, visible on the screen. "Can she take the strain?"

"She's a brave girl, she'll handle it," he assured the spy, but inside, he wasn't at all sure.

* * *

Susan came into the medi-lab, yawning and stretching, but feeling better than she had in ages. She'd really needed the sleep. As she walked past him, she kissed Guinn lightly on the top of his head, checking his energy as she did so and not happy with how much pain he was in.

"You ought to be asleep still," Guinn chided her, looking up at her with red-rimmed eyes.

"Look who's talking," she snorted and came back to kiss him properly, straddling his lap and wrapping her arms around him. "You look horrible, my darling man."

He crushed her against him, kissing her as though he was dying and she was his last request. She twined herself around him, soothing him with her touch and pouring her light and love into him.

"I have to check on Tomoko," she told him and he released her reluctantly.

She ran a diagnostic scan on Tomoko and noted that she was shifting a bit too fast. Susan adjusted the levels and slowed the stream of Artron energy to her, trying to keep the transformation controlled and steady.

"She's coming along nicely." She turned and gazed at him, a smile on her face.

"I'm so glad that I can correct this. So many things that I have done cannot be undone, but at least I can help her," he sighed out and she fell silent, struggling to find words that would comfort him.

* * *

"Done!" Rose announced and the Doctor nodded. She began reading figures to him and he input them into the TARDIS. She finished the sequence and looked at him, both excited and terrified at the same time. The Doctor looked up at her, smiling, and her hearts skipped a beat.

"I love you so much," she whispered and he sent her a wave of such joy and warmth that she felt buoyed up by it, her fears fading away.

"Well, everyone hold on," he muttered and flipped the last switch.

* * *

Susan was thrown into Guinn's arms, as the TARDIS lurched, and Tomoko's coffin slid a few feet across the floor.

"Bloody hell!" Susan shouted.

"What was that?" Guinn cried out, clutching her to him and folding himself around her protectively.

"Grandfather is doing something brilliant, no doubt!" she snarked.

* * *

Koschei was dumped from his bed, still half-asleep as the TARDIS lurched.

"Theta!" he grumbled and began trying to find his way into some clothes. "Leave him alone for ten minutes and he gets in trouble."

Still grumbling, Koschei made his way to the console room.

The Doctor had both TARDIS slaved to his console. He, along with Dar and Rose, set them into the flight pattern Rose had calculated, crashing out of the Vortex in an emergency translation that they had set up ahead of time.

"This is really bloody stupid!" Dar yelled, as he wrenched the control lever over and the two TARDIS danced together, streaming Vortex energy behind them.

"Now you tell me!" the Doctor shouted over the horrible grinding noises the TARDIS was making.

"Changeover in five point three seconds!" Rose screamed to them, her own hands dancing across the the dials and switches.

"Is it working?" Dar asked and the Doctor nodded spastically. The energy that they were leaving behind, loops of space time that weren't meant to exist here, in this dimension, brushed against the ball of entropy and tangled into it.

"Yes! It's working!" the Doctor crowed.

The two TARDIS jolted backwards, the drag from shifting that much energy yanking them like they were on the end of a rope.

"Great! I'm so damn happy!" Dar shouted, his face twisted by the effort it was taking to hold them on some semblance of a course.

"We've got it!" Rose yelled and Dar rolled his eyes at her.

"That's wonderful, Rose, now what do we do with it?"

The Doctor just grinned at him as the two ships continued to strain, their engines screaming, as they fought to hold the mass behind them.

"Changeover!" Rose shouted and the two ships pirouetted, slipping into each other's places and twisting the streamers behind them, tying the entropy ball to them.

Then Dar, Rose, and the Doctor piloted the ships, dragging the entropy ball behind them, away from the lives it jeopardized, as the TARDIS howled from the strain of it.

"It's working!" the Doctor shouted.

"Great! Now lets not die!" Dar snarked back and they went to work once more.

Koschei staggered into the console room and took his own place, giving Dar a glare as he did so.

"Next time, warn a fellow before you turn the place into a roller-coaster," he complained.

"Things were getting rather desperate for the Chanters," the Doctor explained. "We were out of time."

"An alarm, maybe, a buzzer, a message?" Koschei pointed out and the Doctor shrugged.

"I'll think about it, for next time," he agreed and Koschei rolled his eyes.

"I had no idea it was going to get like this," Dar excused himself with a shrug.

"It's the Doctor," Koschei reminded him and Dar nodded.

"Excellent point," he agreed. "I'll warn you next time."

Susan and Guinn darted in next and took their own places.

"Grandfather, that could have gone more smoothly, if you'd called us up first," she scolded.

"Yes, yes, water under the bridge, saving the universe now!" he replied. "I mean Rose and I have been rather brilliant here, you know!"

"I don't care how brilliant you're being! We just fixed the TARDIS and now you're breaking her again!" Susan scolded and the Doctor grimaced at her.

"Sharper than a serpent's tooth is the ingratitude of a thankless child!" he informed his granddaughter in glacial tones, but she just frowned.

"You break my TARDIS and you are repairing her!" she snapped.

* * *

Adie woke up to the lurching feel of battle stations and found herself alone in the Medi-bay. Not sure what was happening, she headed towards the control room as quickly as she could. Lights were flickering, the ship was shaking and jolting, and she wondered what was happening.

A panel in the wall exploded in a shower of sparks and she screeched, throwing up her arms to protect herself, as tiny stinging burns erupted across her skin. She shook it off and, with her hands out, she ran on down the corridor, bouncing off of walls as she went.

* * *

"We're running out of time!" Rose shouted and the Doctor nodded. Working together, the Time Lords flew the two ships, straining them to their limits, as they dragged the mass to an empty area of space and then cut off the energy trails.

"Ready?" Dar asked and the Doctor nodded.

Once more she read off the numbers to him and the Doctor started beaming block transfer computations from the TARDIS into the heart of the entropy.

For a while, nothing seemed to happen, it hung there in space, a swirling cloud of purple, sucking away at the heat of everything around it... and then there was movement.

There was a brief burst of energy, of heat, that the mathematics forced into the heart of it. It flashed only for a fraction of a second, but it was enough.

Inside the icy chill, a light blossomed. It spread, and grew, fluttering and flying, a butterfly of golden energy, it spun and danced, creating even faster than the entropy could destroy, unbalancing it and tipping the mathematical scales back to creation from destruction.

A new system exploded into being, a bright infant star and proto-planets came together and suddenly there was potential swirling through everything around them.

"Beautifully done, Rose and Malla," the Doctor congratulated and the blonde nodded, her eyes solemn.

"Midwifing a star system, not bad for a former Shop Girl," she murmured and then she grinned broadly, tongue in teeth, looking at them all with joy and wonderment in her eyes.

"Not bad at all," the Doctor agreed.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32 - The Meaning of Life

Captain Rammall shook his head, looking at the packed plaza. So many people had poured into it that they stood shoulder to shoulder. It was impossible to move.

"We'll never get through that," he told Gaige. "Hamman Frey must be shocked to discover that he is suddenly the most popular man in all of the Sultanate, especially after all those decades where Astronomy was mocked and ridiculed." His eyes settled on Gaige searchingly. "What do you think it was?"

"I think the Gods of River and Sand took mercy on us, for once," he chuckled and Rammall shook his head again.

"Fine! Don't tell me!" he sighed and Gaige eyed him in uncertainty.

"Why, by the Hot Sands, do you think I would know anything?" he asked.

"Oh for Water's sake, Ghost! I know you're no Djinn, I'm not a superstitious peasant after all, but I know full well you weren't born on Azari Bal! The hair and eyes are obvious, but when you got shot by that mad Tribesman, the physician swore that you had two hearts!" Rammall chided him with a roll of his eyes and threw his hands up in the air.

Gaige grabbed Rammall and pulled him away from the crowd.

"Would you like to yell that a bit louder, Abanni?" he snapped, using the Captain's first name.

"Please, as if any of them are listening to me," Rammall scoffed. "They are too busy praising the Day of the Reborn Stars!"

"Even so..." Gaige trailed off. "That attack happened fifteen years ago, Captain," he told him in a sort of wonderment. "You have kept silent all this time?"

"You were the best scout we had," Rammall shrugged and Gaige laughed.

"You wily dog!" he snorted.

"Mongrel," Rammall teased. "In truth, though, Gaige, what did happen?"

"We were saved by the combined efforts of many people, who fought valiantly to save not just us, but many others," he admitted.

"Then why do they not show themselves to us, that we may thank them?" Rammall asked.

"Because it is utterly forbidden for people of a technology that advanced to meddle too much in the growth and development of other civilizations," he replied, "Rammall, in my brain is the knowledge to transform Azari Bal, to give your people advancements that would move them ahead by thousands of years." Rammall stared at him for a long while.

"I think it would be better if I shot you first," Rammall admitted and Gaige nodded.

"It would, actually, which is why I never would use that knowledge here. How many of your people would agree with that though? If offered nearly eternal life and vast power, how many would see the dangers and reject it?" Gaige pressed and Rammall nodded slowly.

"Yes, I see, Ghost," he admitted.

"So, please, keep this secret, because I like you and your family and want to see you progress at your own rate, living good and happy lives, in the manner that suits your people best," he told him, making a desperate plea for the future of this world.

"Of course I will keep it," Rammall told him and clapped him on the shoulder. "Have I not kept it for fifteen years now?"

"You have, my friend, indeed you have," he replied and then paused for a long moment, trying to find a way to say what he had to. "Soon, I must leave."

"I can see that," Rammall nodded. "The stars are back and they sing to you at night. I see you staring up at them, the yearning in your face. They call you to return to them, do they not?"

"Oh, yes, they do," Gaige told him and his whole being thrummed with the naked desire in him, the need to be away from here, to find Adyra and return to his home and his people. He'd been the only one for so long and now he could hear the faint song of his people's minds, the connection to his race was returned and he leaned into it like a dog leaning into his master's hand.

"When?" Rammall enquired, his head cocked as he studied him.

"I don't know. I have no ship and no way to build one here. I can only pray that my people will hear me crying out to them and come," he responded and Rammall nodded.

"Well, then, perhaps we have time for supper?" he suggested and Gaige laughed again.

"I think we might," he replied and clapped the Captain on the arm.

Together they made their way through the wild celebrations on the street and back to the quiet refuge of Rammall's home, to eat and talk as old friends do.

* * *

The 'Strong Rebuff' was not the actual name of the ship, but it was what the crew called it. It was a police cruiser on paper, with minimal weapons and excellent sensors, but in reality it was a victim of the budgetary constraints of the Shadow Proclamation, as it was stretched to the limit trying to put out fires in several quadrants at once.

Her once bright paint was pitted and worn, her sensors cranky and intermittent, and her weapons hadn't worked in years. The 'Redoubtable' was her real name, but the crew felt it was a bit much for a half-blind old tub like her. They loved her dearly, but had no illusions about her age and decrepitude.

Encar Telatn, a patrol officer first class, who had been tasked to try to nurse the sensors along as best he could, was tapping gently on the controls, trying to refine the scan. He was nervous, because the panel had a tendency to short out at too great a resolution, and his furred hands already had several bald patches from the sparks. He frowned and blinked at the screens in front of him, the delicate quills on his head rising and falling in consternation, quite sure that the sensors had to be malfunctioning again, but unable to find the fault.

"I said, 'What is the current status?'" repeated Captain K'kar, looking at the words on his tablet in annoyance. He had sent a request for transfer to another station each 40 day, for the last two solar cycles, with no sign that anyone at Headquarters even received his repeated pleas. He wondered idly if they simply shunted all such requests into automatic deletion, or if he maybe was just being ignored in particular.

"Erm," PO Telatn murmured and K'kar had to throttle his annoyance at the unprofessionalism of the response. "Status? Well, according to the sensors, this system is missing two planets and the quadrant is missing four previously-mapped star systems," he finally replied and the Captain stared at him in disbelief.

"That's ridiculous! The sensors must be on the blink again," Captain K'kar replied and came to look for himself, peering around Telatn's shoulder. He gave plenty of room to the quills. Telatn was very mild-mannered and had probably never used them in actual combat, but they were razor-sharp, and it was possible to give oneself a bad poke from them if one got careless.

It was impossible to tell K'Kar's reaction from the look on his face; but his ears flattened in concern, as he looked at the screen with his vivid orange eyes.

"Were those planets inhabited? Those systems?" he asked, his whiskers quivering in agitation.

"No, sir, they were class 2 and outside the green zone. The systems were navigational points and they are just not picking up on any of the scanners. Not that I can really tell, we're missing an entire page's worth of unmanned repeater probes," he gestured at the screen with one hand and K'Kar nodded slowly, relief settling his hackles.

"Captain?" Lieutenant Brockman called and he turned to look at the very tall, very thin woman, with her silver hair and golden eyes.

"Yes, lt.?" he replied absently, his mind on the missing worlds more than anything else.

"We're getting a distress call from Logopolis, they request aid immediately, some sort of planetary disaster," she told him and he frowned. As far as he knew, Logopolis kept to itself and had little to no contact with the outside universe. They were an odd, secretive people, obsessed with mathematics.

"What is Logopolis requesting?" he asked, even as he was punching the data into his pad to be relayed back to Headquarters, where he hoped it might be noticed more than his requests for transfer had been.

"A lot of support, food, medical supplies, personnel… here's the list," she told him, relaying it to his pad, to add to the upload.

"I'll send it up the chain," he replied, frowning fiercely. "Let's hope that there is someone they can actually send, what with all the strains on us." Damn the Draconians, anyway, he thought to himself. They were already stretched by the Sontaran-Rutan conflict and now all of this. He shook his head, ears twitching in annoyance. It was always something.

A policeman's lot was not a happy one.

* * *

The Shadow Architect looked up as her desk buzzed at her.

"Yes?" she enquired of it.

"We've just gotten word from the Federated Planets' Astrocartography Division, Architect," the voice of her assistant, Gerphat, informed her.

"Yes?"

"We're missing some planets," Gerphat informed her.

"What? Again?" she groaned. "This is just unbelievable! Were there any reports of lizards in loud floral shirts?" she asked.

"Uh... no, Madame Architect," he answered in a prim tone, ruffling his feathers in disapproval, and she sighed.

"Fine, what is their opinion on the cause, then?"

"Well, they say that they are only cartographers, not physicists, and it's not their division, Madame Architect," he replied with a clack of his beak, and she sighed.

"Right. Get in contact with whoever's division it is and get me some answers, please! The Doctor will be most unamused if I have to tell him that we've lost more planets!" she retorted with a frown.

"We are also getting a request for emergency aid from Logopolis," he continued and the Architect's eyes went wide in sudden fear.

"That information should have come first!" she scolded him. "Logopolis has Gold Status! Send aid instantly!" she ordered and turned off the speaker with a sharp chopping gesture. Her hands were shaking, she realized and she forced herself to take a deep breath.

"Madame? Tea?" her aide asked her and she looked up at her in distress.

"If the Charged Vacuum Emboitments are not able to be renewed now and again..." she murmured and her aide nodded, her plump face grim.

"All will fall to dust and destruction," she agreed and the Shadow Architect began calling up lists of ships, supplies, and equipment, her fingers frantic as she worked.

* * *

Adie came in and she looked better, so much better than she had before. Her golden cord was fully whole again. Her shirt was singed and her eyes rather wide with dismay, but she looked alive and radiant, nonetheless.

"Light out of darkness," the Doctor told her with a grin. "My favourite trick!" He looked at Rose and smiled.

"I am so sorry, but Gaige contacted me in the middle of us powering up," Adie explained. "His Bubble was nearly overwhelmed by entropy!" She paused, biting her lip. "How is Tomoko?" She asked fearfully.

"She's going to be fine," Susan assured her. "We had to bump her up to full Time Lord though, so I hope she's not mad at me!"

Adie's eyes were swimming with a sudden flood of tears, as relief and guilt coursed though her in equal measures.

"Why would she be mad at you?" Adie asked Susan. "You saved her life. I chose Gaige's life over hers. It's me that she ought to hate."

"Excuse me? Tomoko put her life on the line to save the whole of Azari Bal, and five other systems!" Dar informed her, sounding rather offended.

"Yes, she did, but I knew she would do it. I showed her where to shoot and I knew she would burn herself up doing it. I just… I couldn't leave Gaige there."

"So, you're responsible for the fact that she is just like you?" Guinn pointed out. "You were both willing to die to save others." He shook his head. "I think it's much more my fault for making her such a good person."

"No, it's the Doctor's genetics too," Koschei pointed out. "That whole family is mad."

"True," Susan agreed with a sweet smile at him. "After all, I married you."

"Ouch!" the Doctor laughed.

"Yeah, but is your bloke okay, Adie?" Rose interrupted the banter to ask.

"He's fine… he's alive." Her eyes were still very damp when she said this, but her face was shining.

"Of course he is!" Dar told them in disgusted tones. "It's the Ghost! There has never been a better black ops specialist than Gaige the Destroyer. He once sneaked into Chancellor Borusa's bedroom, while he was in it, and stole several top secret file crystals, without Borusa having the slightest idea he was even there! Then, there was the time the two of us got into a Dalek High Command Ship and killed the whole command crew, before we ditched it in a sun." He informed her. "There is no way that a little entropy was going to stop him!"

Koschei, the Doctor, and Rose were all looking at Dar with expressions that varied from horror on Rose's face, to amused tolerance on Koschei's, while Susan just looked a bit sad, and Adie looked thoughtful.

"Well that does give me some confidence in his survivability," she smiled, "Until we get to him. In the meantime, I agree, Doctor, we need to see to the Chanters. The entropy waves battered them pretty hard."

* * *

"They have done it," Elder Miriam murmured and her voice fell silent for the first time in a long while.

All around her the Singers and Chanters were realizing that the crisis was over and one by one they ceased their labours. The Chant that had rung across every part of the world for so long was, at last, done and the silence that followed was filled with a profound sense of gratitude.

The city had been scorched by the massive energies that had raged through it and now the tall columns and sandstone towers were tumbled and blackened by the heat. The sky was clearing though, the angry purple was receding, and the cerulean blue of twilight was settling over them all. Tiny pinpricks of light began to peek out, as the stars returned, making the sky look like it shaded down to a swath of velvet, scattered over with gems.

"Beautiful," Miriam murmured.

Released from the fearful desperation that had driven them, the Chanters sank to the ground, some sitting, other lying on the ground, all of them exhausted past endurance. Children lay against their parents, husbands and wives held each other and tears fell from every eye. It was over, it was really and truly, finally over.

She looked around at her brave, wonderful, worn-out people and with a smile, Elder Miriam collapsed, her frail, elderly body no longer able to sustain itself.

Having helped to save her world and many others, she slipped away into rest eternal, never to rise again.

* * *

"Another five are coming, do we have any more beds?" Katie asked an orderly, who shook his head. "Well, do we have any blankets?" She was looking around at the sandstone walls as through beds might magically appear.

"Sorry, doctor, all we have now are exercise mats from the local school gym," he admitted and she nodded.

"That's fine, set them up in the storage room and we can triage the least injured onto them, okay?" she told him and he moved off to comply, his sandalled feet slapping against the red tiled floor.

"Save the beds for those who are in real need," Owen called after him and the orderly grimaced.

"There are some folks as might complain," he warned and Owen frowned.

"Ask me if I bloody well care!" he shot back.

"Owen? Katie?" Susan's voice came to them over the cacophony of nurses, doctors, orderlies, groaning patients, the beep and hum of equipment, and the confused babble of an entire city full of people who were lost and scared.

"Susan!" Katie called back and there was a flurry of people being moved aside, before the tiny ginger emerged from the chaos, her sharp little elbows working hard to get her to them.

"There you are! Aislynn's been worried about you," she told them and they nodded wearily, both feeling so mentally and physically numb that they could barely grasp that there had ever been a time before the endless effort of saving lives.

"She's okay?" Katie asked and Susan nodded.

"Taydin took good care of her," she was assured and then Susan looked around. "Right. You two go take an hour or two to nap, I'll get this lot sorted."

"Nap, but...?" Owen protested, but Susan glared at them.

"You're out on your feet! Spit spot! Off you go!" she insisted and soon they were lying on a gym mat together, fast asleep.

"Susan!" Martha called to her and she looked up and grinned.

"Where do you need us?" Harry asked as Rory, Flores, and the rest came trooping through.

"Will we ever go somewhere that isn't on fire?" Rory asked, looking around.

"I'll take you on a vacation soon," Susan promised. "But, right now, I need you to help."

She began snapping out instructions and soon the chaos was a smoothly running order with a cadre of doctors and one nurse that had the whole of it under control, led by a tiny ginger tornado that whirled about the hospital, terrifying everyone into behaving.

* * *

Aislynn was barely on her feet. Taydin, for all that he was trying to put a brave face on things, wasn't much better off.

The chanters would have provided lodgings for them, but Aislynn had declined. The idea of taking the hospitality of the Logopolitans, when so many were in need and when the Elysium was so close, was unthinkable. However, it did mean walking to the Elysium, a staggering distance of five hundred or so feet, and both of them were so exhausted that they could barely lift their legs.

"Come on," Taydin managed a smile for her, though he was haggard and his voice sounded even worse than it used to before Aislynn had sung the Song to bring it back to him, his fingers fumbling with the key. Aislynn had no strength to respond, and simply nodded. It was only Taydin's offered arm that was keeping her moving at all.

Taydin escorted her to bed, and she collapsed on it without even taking off her shoes. He hesitated, but he was too tired to walk another step. He simply crawled in with her, gathered her in his arms, and drifted off instantly.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33 - Cleaning Up

"Go away," grumbled Diana at Jake-77, pulling the pillow around her head even harder. Jake crept into the room very quietly, without turning on the lights, and laid a tray down next to the bed. It had a cup of chicken broth and a bunch of crackers, and a cup of tea. He gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

They had been provided temporary housing for the Mashas, with enough rooms for all of them, and all the comforts of home, including a replicator. Like most structures on Logopolis, the building was made of adobe, with roundish doorways, thick, sturdy wooden doors, and earth-toned fabrics. The beds, made of cotton, stuffed with some sort of seeds, were simple, but very comfortable. Diana, like most of the Mashas, had taken refuge here after the last Lens shot.

"Love you," he whispered.

From somewhere under the pillow was a muffled response. It might have also sounded like 'love you,' but it was hard to tell.

He crept out of the room and closed the door before heading to the kitchen. There were four Mashas there, every one of them looking like they had the flu.

"Chicken noodle soup," Jake recommended to them.

"You think?" Evie sniffed.

"Trust me."

She punched in the code for the bowl of soup and shuffled back to her room with it. The others did the same. Down the hallway that led to their rooms, there was hardly a peep.

The Mashas, out of alignment, were very quiet nowadays.

* * *

Susan's TARDIS had indeed taken damage. The Doctor, Koschei, and Guinn had been set the task to repair it and Adie was helping.

"Hand me that conduit, will you?" Guinn asked her and she passed it to him, without paying much heed.

"How long until Tomoko is set to wake up?" she asked, as she tightened down the panel.

"Susan says another week before she thinks it will be safe for her to come out of the healing coma. She took a lot of damage," the Doctor answered and then swore softly as a shower of sparks erupted from the wires he was repairing.

"But, she's okay, right?" Adie persisted. "She won't need us or anything, right?"

Koschei looked up at her with a smile.

"She's fine," he assured her and Adie nodded.

"When can we start getting the Mashas back into alignment?" was her next question and the Doctor looked up at her from the mess of wiring with an expression of surprised dismay.

"Oh! I had forgotten all about that!" he exclaimed.

"As soon as we have main power back up to full on the workshop's systems, we can start on that," Koschei told Aide with a small smile.

"We hadn't forgotten," Guinn said softly, with a small smile on his face.

"Oh fine! I had other things on my mind, you know!" the Doctor muttered and they all chuckled and got back to work.

* * *

Outside, near the standing stones where the Chanters had gathered, the area was now still and silent. There was nothing, but sparkling motes of dust drifting in a stray sunbeam. The lights grew brighter, moving silvery blurs.

The door to Adie's TARDIS was still slightly agape and another few glittering strays crept out of it, resolving into silvered insects that sat preening in the early dawn light. They came to a rest together on a large, flat, sandstone rock. They turned in circles, investigating their new surroundings.

There were a variety of them; delicate, long-legged crickets, trundling, sturdy beetles, softly glowing fireflies, all clustered together, like they were having a surreal sort of picnic on the rock, heads together, antennae gently waving.

No one on Logopolis had the energy to spare even to notice them, so they remained there, idly chewing on the rock, thinking.

* * *

Susan dragged back into the TARDIS, glad to be heading in the vague general direction of her bed.

She paused in the lab, stopping to check on Tomoko, and patted K-9 gently.

"How's our patient?" she asked.

"Well within the set parameters, mistress," he assured her.

"You are a very good dog," she told him and dropped a kiss on his head.

"Affirmative, mistress," he replied with a tail wag and Susan ran her sonic over the squared off, oblong box that presently housed Tomoko and nodded in satisfaction.

* * *

Inside the box, Tomoko stirred restlessly, her mind unfolding into two more dimensions was giving it the freedom to expand and fly, but there was something wrong as well. She'd felt it before, but even as she reached out to Susan and tried to cry for help, a soothing blanket of calm smothered her and she drifted backwards and down. Her mind, finally freed of it's confining limitations, was ruthlessly seized and suppressed and Tomoko's self curled into a tiny ball and slept.

Her eyes opened and the mind that now drove the body smiled slightly, before settling down to wait for the process to complete.

She had all the time in the universe, after all.

* * *

The Doctor nodded at the Shadow Proclamation Captain, who saluted him briskly.

"Thank you for responding so quickly," he told the feline officer.

"More ships with rations are coming as well," Captain K'kar informed him and he smiled.

"I'm sure that will be most welcome to the people here."

"Are you not a native?" the Captain asked in surprise and the Doctor shook his head.

"All the council members are in hospital right now and Elder Miriam has passed away, so things are a bit confused just now. I was asked to help out, so here I am," the Doctor shrugged, not bothering to mention that it was Susan who told him to get himself over to the spaceport and deal with things. She had no standing on this world either, but she was certainly in charge of the hospital just then, so he figured it was close enough.

"I see, very well, where should we start unloading supplies?" K'kar looked around the area with the air of someone who wasn't really sure he knew what to do and the Doctor grinned and grabbed his notebook from him.

"Well, let's see what you have and then we'll get it where it needs to go." He flagged down a young boy and directed him to find out where the highest ranking elder still awake and moving was and then he walked over to the ship and peered in.

"Right! Medical supplies, to the hospital!" he announced and by dint of grabbing random people as they walked by, soon had a work crew unloading the ship.

"Thank you Doctor," the Captain said a few hours later, as the ship's hold was empty.

"Not at all, it's just a matter of knowing who to shout for," he assured the Captain with a wink and then strode off again, to see how other things were coming.

* * *

Koschei and Guinn finished realigning the next Masha and Koschei opened the Artron energy transducer with a smile.

"Feeling better?" he asked and Evie grinned at him.

"So much better!" she crowed and bounced out of the cradle with a smile. She hugged Koschei and to Guinn's shock, she bounced over and hugged him too. "Thank you!" she carolled and then skipped out of the workshop, humming.

"You okay?" Koschei asked his other self, who was staring after the departed clone with an expression of stunned bemusement.

"She hugged me," he replied and Koschei nodded.

"She certainly did."

"I thought she was coming over to kill me," Guinn admitted and Koschei chuckled.

"A hug is a bit nicer than a knife," Koschei proposed and Guinn gave him a crooked smile.

"Rather a bit, yes," he replied and then shook his head. "I will never come to the end of all the surprises they have in store for me, will I?"

"As far as I can tell, that's one of the definitions of 'parent'," Koschei pointed out and Guinn flushed.

"I don't think they really think of me that way," he replied, busying himself with setting up for the next Masha.

"That's not important, Guinn. What's important is how you see yourself in relation to them. Do you see them as your daughters?" he asked and the other man ran a hand through the tangled black curls of his hair with an irritated gesture.

"Of course I do, but I don't think that they would be happy knowing that," he spat out and Koschei shook his head.

"You might be surprised," he retorted and Guinn looked away and began making adjustments with an agitated air.

"I don't know how to handle not being hated," he admitted in a shamed tone of voice and Koschei nodded in understanding.

"Well, we'll start slow and build up to that, shall we?" he suggested gently and Guinn looked up at him with a mournful look and nodded.

* * *

Susan finished a double shift at the hospital and then came back to the TARDIS, checked on Tomoko and collapsed into bed.

She'd been so exhausted that she'd done merely a cursory inspection of the oblong box. Had she looked closer, she might have noticed an odd flutter, but she was worn to the bone and fell asleep in moments, oblivious.

* * *

It was Aislynn that woke first.

She was surprised to see Taydin next to her. She ought to have been angry with him; but he had Sung so valiantly last night, and looked so very handsome asleep, that she didn't have the hearts.

She gave him a delicate kiss on the forehead. It was a bit improper, as he wasn't awake to consent to a kiss, but she absolutely couldn't resist him. Rather reluctantly, she got up. She hastily hopped into and out of the shower and then dressed rapidly, but with care, into a new set of robes.

Logopolis was still standing: it was time to see to the aftermath of the Entropy Wave.

* * *

Koschei and Guinn were still working in the shop. There were still at least twenty Mashas that needed to be adjusted, so that they wouldn't feel like death warmed over anymore. Their flu-like symptoms weren't passing and the two of them knew that until their energies were properly aligned again, they would continue to feel sick.

"Back in the box, eh?" Diana asked with a sour look. Her eyes were scrunched shut. "This room has the lights on. Why are we doing this with the lights on?"

"Sorry, but once you go back in the box, it'll stop the migraine," Koschei assured her.

"I'll take two," Diana mumbled, tumbled into the box, and slammed the door closed. "And turn off the damned lights!" her voice drifted from inside, slightly muffled.

"I think we should shut off the lighting in there," Guinn murmured, snapping off the switch with alacrity.

"Right, good idea," Koschei nodded and the two of them began the delicate adjustments that would bring the clones' Quantum Tunnelling Engines back into proper connection with each other.

"She doesn't seem to hate me either," Guinn commented, looking hopefully at Koschei.

"No, she doesn't."

"So far, only three have threatened my life," he pointed out and Koschei nodded.

"Well, and one threatened to cut off your...," he began, but Guinn interrupted him.

"Yes, but that's a non-fatal wound, plus she said it almost affectionately."

There was a long pause as Koschei stared at Guinn, trying to see some scrap of affection in Devorah's matter of fact explanation of what would happen if the recalibration didn't result in healthy, happy Mashas.

"I'll take your word for that," Koschei finally muttered and Guinn gave him a sheepish look. If his other self was looking for acceptance and forgiveness from his abused daughters, then who was Koschei to say anything against it?

* * *

Rose sat in the council room with the remaining mathematicians and they worked out the equations together.

"So, it will be at least six months before the background entropy drops to normal levels," Rose sighed.

"Indeed," Rutan agreed, his voice rough and hoarse, his face sunken with exhaustion, and his eyes bloodshot.

"We'll need to frame the equations to protect you then," Rose muttered and set to work. Rutan leaned over curiously and nodded as she worked, occasionally making a suggestion or a comment. Together, they worked out a basic set of equations that could start to repair Logopolis.

There was still so much to do though.

* * *

"Is it true?" Evie wondered at Diana as she approached.

The group of Mashas had gathered near the now-abandoned amphitheatre, where there was a big patch of grass to sit on, and relative privacy.

"It's true. I just had it from the Doctor himself. They couldn't save Tomoko. They're turning her into a Time Lord."

Several of the girls sat heavily down onto the ground. Evie's hands flew to her mouth.

"We lost Tomoko?" she whispered, her eyes brimming, and then turned into Zoi's shoulder. Zoi patted her back awkwardly.

"Now look," Diana told the group, "We have to remember that she chose this. She saved a lot of people. She wouldn't want us to be sad. She would want us to go on. You know she would." She looked over her shoulder at Jake-77, who was fast approaching.

"I just… I never thought we would lose Tomoko," Skye murmured.

"Hey Angel, what's with all the long faces?" Jake asked, as he came over.

"We lost Tomoko!" Skye looked as if she would start bawling any second.

"Susan couldn't save her," Diana said. "They're turning her into a Time Lord."

"Uh... how is that losing her? She's still alive," Jake responded, feeling a certain amount of bafflement.

"But, she'll be a Time Lord!" Martine-74 protested.

"She won't be Tomoko any more!" Evie-44 looked crushed at the thought.

"She won't be one of us!" This came from Kaori'i-40, who rarely spoke, but looked absolutely convinced.

"Hey, Rose Tyler, my best mate, was born human and became a Time Lord. She's still my best mate and she's not changed at all. Except for being a bit more clever than she used to be," he told them with a smile.

The Mashas looked at him and at each other.

"You think," Madison asked in a voice that was very small, "that she'll remember us? That she won't just be… I dunno… all Doctor-y and stuff."

"Not that we don't like him, mind… but, he's not very Tomoko-like," Evie added hastily.

"Neither is Susan very like the Doctor, or like Dar, or like Koschei, or like Farian, or any of the rest of them. You lot are prejudiced, you know. You all think of time Lords as something big and bad, but they're just people like you. They live a bit longer, they change their faces now and again, but they're still just people," he pointed out, frowning. "Why do you think Tomoko will be different?"

"I… I dunno, I just… I mean… she started the revolution, you know? She was always there for us and now she's not where she used to be and I just… it's like there's a hole where she ought to be and isn't."

"But Jake is right, we know a lot of Time Lords now, and they are all different," pointed out Diana.

"Yes, that's true, I suppose," agreed London slowly, thinking it over.

"I guess," said Madison, "I guess…. now that Tomoko isn't here… I don't know what to do." There was a general murmuring of assent.

"Wait and see, Tomoko is still going to be Tomoko, no matter what. The thing is, if you all treat her like she's some sort of leper, you're really going to hurt her feelings, so try to keep that in mind, okay?" Jake added with a concerned look at them all.

"If she is still really Tomoko then… then that's okay," said Mica, and many of the rest nodded. "I mean, if she wakes up and she's better, and remembers us, and still loves us then… then that's okay."

"So, now that the Koscheis have gotten you lot all 'recalibrated', what's your next move?" Jake asked, changing the subject, so that they could move on and worry about something else.

"Well," Evie said slowly, "We were thinking of going to Karn."

"Tomoko talked about Karn," added Mica. "She thought we could live there. We thought we would go and start the colony there, and then when Tomoko is better, she can come and see what we've built. We think she would really like that."

"Sounds like a plan," Jake agreed.

"At least, if we're done with entropy on Logopolis?" wondered London.

"Doesn't matter," said Diana, "We won't be firing the Lens with Tomoko down."

"True," said Evie. "If we can get a ride from one of the Time Lords, and they needed us again, couldn't they just come and get us? It's not like they can't land on Karn, right?"

"They go there to talk to the rocks, so I guess so," Jake replied with a shrug. He was a bit vague about the corals and how all that worked.

"You think you could get us a lift?"

"Sure, you could always ask, Adie, you know," Jake suggested. There was a return chorus of agreement and pleasure at that suggestion and they all headed for Adie's TARDIS.

* * *

Susan finished up another shift at the hospital and came back into the TARDIS. K-9 had been lying stretched out next to the Project Uplift device and Susan scratched behind his ears, as she knelt to check the readings.

"That's... odd," she murmured and K-9 cocked his head at her.

"Is there a problem, mistress?"

"No, she's within parameters, but she's... well, she was in the Loops a long time, maybe she's just older than I thought she was," Susan told him, her mind feeling sluggish and dull after the days of hard work and little rest.

"Please explain, mistress?" the robotic dog asked her with an intent expression.

"Well, I'd estimated Tomoko at about two hundred or so, but I could have been wrong. None of the Mashas really know how old they are, after all. With the time differentials in the Loops, they are all sorts of ages. The readings for Tomoko are just showing a much older energy than I was expecting for her, that's all," she explained, her frown etching itself into her brow as she tried to think.

"Is that a negative event?" K-9 asked her and Susan shook her head.

"I don't know. I won't know until she wakes up and I can talk to her about it," Susan replied and stood up, patting the dog again.

"Very well, mistress," K-9 agreed and Susan staggered off to bed.

Her husbands were already asleep in untidy sprawls, side by side, and she simply shucked her clothes off and crawled onto the bed between them, falling instantly asleep.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34 - Falling Up

Adie looked out at the sky of Logopolis, chewing her lower lip thoughtfully. She couldn't deny that she had been quite busy since they arrived, fetching and carrying, and putting her hands to whatever seemed to need doing.

But the truth was that she was worried. The Doctor was off being brilliant. The Koscheis were off being brilliant. Susan was off being brilliant. Adie was just sort of… there. She felt like she ought to be brilliant too, but that would require selecting, and excelling in, some sort of actual occupation. She was quite certain she didn't want to be a doctor like Susan. She had thought about doing something in engineering, like the Koscheis, but it didn't feel quite right.

Oh, she could do engineering work well enough, but she'd never have the spark of pure genius that the Koscheis had. The Doctor… well, excelled in everything, seemingly at random. Adie felt like she had the randomness down, but not much else. She felt like she ought to be becoming… something. Something more than she was right now, but she didn't know how or what.

"Hey Adie?"

She blinked herself out of her line of thought to see the Mashas looking at her… all of the Mashas, from what she could see.

"Could you take us to Karn?" Evie asked shyly. "We thought we might start the colony there. Then when Tomoko recovers, she can come by and see what we have built."

'Taxi driver' wasn't exactly what Adie was thinking of in considering possible fields of study, but she did have to admit that she did seem to have a flair for ferrying people about.

"I think she would like that," Adie smiled at them all. "Come on, we'll stop by Gallifrey first and load up all the supplies that the Doctor gathered, eh? And then we'll go to Karn, and you can unload them and get started." She opened door and went inside. "Come on then!" She called to them and they filed inside, filling the room to the gills, until the last girl closed the door. "Next stop, Gallifrey," Adie smiled at them all, and hit the dematerialization switch.

* * *

Darginian sat next to Tomoko's chamber and tried to figure out why he was there. The kid was his protegee, sure, but he'd never felt such a terrible anguish of hearts over the welfare of one of his agents before. Even Gaige, his best mate for so long, had never inspired such concern.

"Dar?" Koschei murmured as he came in to check on her progress.

"Hey," he replied and tried to smile up at his friend.

"You're here again," Koschei pointed out and Dar nodded.

"Yes, it seems so," he snorted.

"Any particular reason?" Koschei persisted.

"Not a bloody clue," Dar admitted and Koschei cocked his head at him.

"Not your usual answer," his old friend murmured and Dar smiled.

"No, it's not, but it's the best I can do."

"Well, when you come up with an answer, feel free to share," Koschei teased.

"You'll be the first to know," Dar promised and then they talked about something else until Koschei had ascertained that the machinery was working well.

Long after Koschei had left, Dar sat and stared at the box and pondered, wondering what the hell was wrong with him.

* * *

The Doctor got the last of the emergency aid supplies stowed by the simple expedient of finding someone to do it for him.

He then wandered back to the TARDIS, whistling as he went, watching as the planet slowly began rebuilding itself, as the chanted equations of Logopolis reset reality in line with the equations that the Block Transfer Mathematicians were creating.

He glanced at the empty space above them, where the clouds had roiled and burned not so long ago and tried not to think too hard about the price paid for the clean star-speckled sky above them.

"She gave her life to protect her people and all the others that were threatened," Rutan assured the Doctor, looking at him with a compassionate gaze. He hadn't heard the other man walk up to him, which made the Doctor realize just how distressed he really was.

"Threatened because a madman wasn't stopped soon enough," the Doctor muttered. "I failed to prevent so much death and destruction."

"You alone?" he asked with a chuckle. "You are the sole person responsible for all of this?"

"Yes," the Doctor replied quite seriously. "Long ago, I had the chance to put an end to him, once and for all, instead, I showed mercy and refused to kill him. I showed mercy to the Daleks, to Rassilon, to so many others and they turned around and did terrible things."

"Were there none that you were merciful to, who went on to do great things?" Rutan asked gently and the Doctor paused, his mind roaming back over his life.

"Yes, there were," he admitted.

"Then you did the right thing. To show mercy, in hopes that goodness will spring from good, is wise and just. To slay others, merely because of the potential for harm, that is cruel and unjust," Rutan replied and the Doctor sighed out.

"Yes, you're quite right, of course," he agreed and clapped the elderly man lightly on the shoulder. "Quite right."

Rutan nodded and walked away and the Doctor shoved his hands deep into his pockets, waiting for Rose to come back from her meeting with the mathematicians, and stared up at the sky. What Rutan said was true and he needed to remember that. The potential to turn into the Valeyard still lived inside of him and he needed the voices of reason with which he surrounded himself to keep the inner monster at bay.

He needed his rules, because he knew that deep down, he was not a very good man.

* * *

"Hold it… hold it… right there like that… perfect!" Adie snapped the last piece into place, then stepped back, dusting off her hands and evaluating her workmanship. A number of Mashas gathered around, looking.

"Doesn't look like much, does it?" mused London.

Its appearance, a large silver disc in the sand, surrounded by a ring of basketball-sized, red spheres, wasn't at all impressive.

"No, but it's fully functional," Adie told them, as the last group of Mashas came over to look, their crates deposited on the sand with all of the other stacks of crates. "It's a very basic Trans Mat and you'll want to upgrade it later. You won't be able to get directly to Gallifrey, at least not right away, not until Koshei clears the signal through the planetary shields; once he does, you'll be able to hop back and forth as much as you want. Right now this can reach a moon called Phobos 7, which is a little hub outpost in the Shadow Proclamation. It's fairly remote, but from there you can switch to a larger Trans Mat, then hop to Earth, and then to Gallifrey."

"Radios check out, one hundred percent operational," added Madison.

"Great," beamed Adie. "Now, we've only put the one satellite in orbit, so you'll only be able to use them offworld at certain times, when the satellite is passing overhead… here's the schedule. But you have the Temporal Transmitter set up?"

"Right here," smiled Sophie, patting the little black box. It had been placed on top of a tall stone, and several Mashas were stringing up a tarpaulin for it to rest under, to protect it from the weather.

"So you can call my TARDIS, the Doctor's TARDIS, or Susan's TARDIS if you need us."

"Adie! Quit worrying!" commented Mica, and they all gathered around. "We're going to be just fine."

"I know, I just… I know."

They all gathered her in for a sort of enormous group hug and then stood there awkwardly for a while.

"It is beautiful, isn't it?" mused Adie, and they all looked around. It was the middle of the night, but the beaches were sparkling, and the ocean was crystal clear, and the palm trees made comforting noises in the pleasantly warm breeze.

"It is," Mica said.

"We're going to love it here. I can already tell," said Sophie.

"You three ready?" Adie asked Zoi, Diana, and Jake, the only three of the entire group who would be staying on Gallifrey.

"Ready when you are, Angel," Jake told her with a smile and several of the Mashas waved goodbye, looking mournful at his leaving.

"Ready," Zoi murmured with a shy wave at the others.

"Ready!" Diana agreed with a grin, obviously looking forward to future mayhem and fun.

They all trooped back into Adie's TARDIS, and waved goodbye. A moment later the doors closed and it disappeared from the beach, leaving the Mashas alone on a world that they could call home.

* * *

Deep below them, in the stone caverns that stretched under most of the planet's surface, the corals of Karn sang with the knowledge that they were no longer alone, that they shared this world with bright sparks of brilliant light and emotion, who were moving with a joyful warmth across the world.

The Corals hummed and trilled, weaving these new notes into their ancient song.

* * *

Susan leaned over the oblong box with a satisfied smile. Tomoko was done. She'd spread out into all five dimensions fully and was now perfectly seated in her newly evolved body, two hearts beating, bypass respiratory system fully developed, everything exactly as it ought to be.

Well, Susan thought with a small frown, there were a few anomalies, but nothing that she could put her finger on exactly.

"You're frowning, Susana," Professor Boma told her as he walked into the room.

"It's the EEG readings," she admitted.

"She's a cloned and genetically engineered constructed being, with parameters rather far from the baseline," he reminded her with a twinkle of amusement. "You cannot expect her to be fit neatly into a box of your devising."

"I know that. I really do," she agreed, feeling a bit silly. "It's just that even as brilliant as she is, I'm surprised at just how much brain activity I'm picking up, that's all."

Professor Boma bent his greying head towards the monitors, his bright button black eyes alight in interest.

"Yes, she is very certainly more active than I would have expected, but then, even though I helped design them, I was constantly surprised by how much and how often they exceeded all expectations," he admitted and absently patted the box.

"True, with as many cooks as were in the kitchen, perhaps I shouldn't be surprised by any of this," Susan sighed. She still felt like there was something that she was missing, but she could just be paranoid after the long series of alarms they'd been going through.

"They still surprise me, daily," Professor Boma told her with a wink and she laughed.

"Now, can I show you the work I have done on the latest batch of babies?" she asked him and he bowed to her politely.

"My lady, I am all aquiver to see them," he told her in formal Gallifreyan, his eyes dancing.

"I can tell that you and Darginian are second cousins," she teased.

"Nonsense, I am a true gentleman, while he is a rogue and a scoundrel," Boma chuckled. "Speaking of which, where is Lady Tomoko's Guard Dog?" he asked.

"I finally persuaded him to sleep," Susan sighed out. "He was quite determined to stay put, but he was falling asleep in the chair!" Susan shook her head and Boma looked at her in surprise.

"Even as a child, Dar's sense of duty was impressive, but that is quite interesting."

"It is, isn't it?" Susan chuckled and together they left the lab.

* * *

Behind them, in the now empty room, the tells went from mauve to white and the lid clicked open softly.

A seam was outlined by that light and the seam grew wider as the container slowly opened and a slender hand reached out to find purchase on the open edge.

Eyes that burned like the heart of the sun, in a face that had an expression of ruthless arrogance on it, glanced around the room, taking in every detail with a detached air.

Hoses and tubes still hung from her, things that Susan would have removed properly, but with a gesture of impatience, she tugged them free, only to gasp in pain.

"It... hurts," Tomko's voice said unsteadily, as her mind registered the first pain she'd felt since she was a child. "It's of no importance," she told herself and turned back to check her handiwork on the device.

With a pitiless smile, she nodded, exiting the chamber, and closing the lid. The machine continued to hum just as if she had still been present inside. Satisfied that her exit had alerted no one, she strode out of the lab and down the hallway.

She was free at last.

* * *

"Pass it under there and I'll grab it and thread it through," the Doctor told Koschei, who handed him the cable, his arms straining as he tried to reach. The effort of moving the mass of entropy had indeed damaged the TARDIS and the Doctor was quite certain that if he didn't fix it soon, Susan would skin him and mount him above the doorway as a warning. There were times when she bore an uncanny resemblance to his mother.

Guinn continued trying to re-calibrate the Astral Map, as Adie worked on the Temporal Destination Controls. He looked up from his efforts, hearing a noise from the corridor. Guinn glanced his way and then back at his own work.

With a frown, he went to check, as K-9 came in with the tool case.

"Thank you," he told the robot and took the case from him.

"Great, pass me a spanner," Koschei called and they went back to work.

* * *

She watched the robot enter the room and counted the voices that she could hear. Four people, the Master, two versions of him, which was interesting, as well as the Doctor and Adyra. No sign of Susan, though. She angled herself and sped past the open doorway, a blur of speed, revelling in the youth and strength of her body.

Within minutes, she had reached the console room. A few codes only were needed to give her complete access to the TARDIS. She considered gassing the room where the Doctor was, or electrocuting the whole lot of them, but she wasn't sure that they wouldn't be able to escape. Hospital TARDIS had too many fail-safes to make it a sure bet.

She settled for disabling the ship's motive system and reading through all the data she needed, her eyes flicking across the screens with a dazzling speed.

Tomoko's eyebrows rose in interest, as she scanned through the results of the database search.

"Now, isn't that intriguing," she murmured and then turned to the scanners. On the monitor, she saw the world of Logopolis laid out before her as well as two other TARDIS nearby.

She considered again simply killing the Doctor and the others, but again rejected it as too risky. The Doctor had an odd sort of luck and just then stealth and subtlety were her greatest allies. She studied the other two ships and decided that the one nearest had the best weapons mix.

With a nod of decision, she typed in a few codes that would certainly hamper any pursuit and a smile of pure malice twisted her lips.

"After all, I do owe you, Doctor," she said softly and headed outside. The data from her search made her smile, even through the brilliant sunshine had her squinting after the darkness of the interior.

She closed the door behind her and ignored the strangely-solid click noise as it shut. She had done what was needful and had no further energy to spare worrying about it.

With the boldly confident stride of a queen, she stalked across the plaza, headed for the other TARDIS.

* * *

Rose frowned at the last row of numbers and symbols.

"I think that solves it all," Rutan groaned out.

"You need to rest," she told him and he nodded.

"Yes, but I have no time for that. Miriam's death leaves me as Elder," he told her and she gave him a sympathetic look.

"I'm so sorry," she told him.

"Not as sorry as I am. I have been avoiding that chair for a good long time," he confided to her with a shrug. "I don't think that I am at all capable of filling her shoes."

"No one who feels ready to shoulder great responsibility is ever worthy of it," she quoted an ancient Gallifreyan seer and smiled at him.

"Too true," he nodded. "In which case I must be quite perfect for the job, because I am utterly terrified."

They both laughed at that, but Rose felt for him. She was wife of the man who had to herd cats on Gallifrey. She knew exactly what he was in for and felt nothing but pity for him. Running a planet was hard work and not much fun at all.

* * *

Tomoko entered the TARDIS and closed the door behind her. She was at the console in four strides, checking the sensors, which confirmed what she had suspected: she was alone in the ship.

She took a moment to enter codes, then placed her hand on the palm scanner when it came up.

Once she had established herself as the sole pilot enabled to fly it, she paused for a moment, considering her plan of action, pacing once around the console to do so. By the time she had made a full circuit, she had settled upon her next move, and hit the de-materialization sequence without further ado.

* * *

Rose walked back to the TARDIS, deep in thought, her mind ticking over the lines of equations, trying to figure out why they kept coming up with the same odd result.

Block Transfer Mathematics modelled reality, even altered it, but only if all the parameters were entered correctly. That she was coming up with a wrong answer in one area, meant that she wasn't modelling closely enough. There was some piece of data that she was missing. She hadn't input all the parameters and that baffled her.

You couldn't know what you didn't know, of course, but surely one of the mathematicians should have had the right bits to add in.

It was a small thing, one line of one equation, relating to the Mashas and their alignment. It probably wasn't important at all, but it nagged at her.

Still frowning, she walked into the TARDIS, oblivious to her surroundings and not noticing that there was one less TARDIS in the square.

* * *

There was no one in the basement to see the second water heater, as it shimmered into existence with a "Zhwoop, zhwoop, zhwoop" noise.

Part of the curved metal swung open and a woman stepped out. She was dressed in serviceable black cargo pants, with a top and vest covered in various pockets.

She paused for a moment, to assess the area, noting the exits and entrances with interest. Her hand dipped into a pocket and she carefully affixed several devices to walls, struts, and girders. She eyed the placement, calculating load and stress with precision.

With a sly expression, she completed her task and stepped out into a narrow hallway. She went up the stairs, a small smile on her face.

A balding, ginger-haired man was sitting in the living room and he looked up in surprise as she came in.

"Hello, Tomoko," he started and she raised a finger to her lips, shushing him. He fell silent, his face going slack, as he just stood there, vacantly staring off into space.

A round, bleached-blonde woman bustled into the room and looked at Tomoko in bafflement.

"Ere now, is it all over? Oi! What' wrong with Pete...?" she asked and she too was hushed and left standing silently beside her husband.

She pulled a sonic device from one of the pockets and scanned the area, smiling when she found what she was looking for.

She left the room and a small, furry, native creature ran at her, barking and growling. With a casual gesture, she grabbed up the animal and broke its neck, then continued through the hallway and towards the staircase.

"This is really almost too easy," she murmured. "They left the door open, and the silver out on the table." With a soft chuckle, she mounted the stairs.

* * *

Dar woke and had to admit that he did feel a bit better. He'd been exhausted and had needed the rest. With a bone cracking stretch, he rose from his bed and dressed hurriedly. The plain black trousers and shirt were identical to every other one in his closet. They were essentially recreations of his CIA uniform, merely stripped of rank badges and official sigals.

He felt more himself in them, which probably said bad things for his psyche profile, he mused, as he strapped his weapons on and carefully concealed them from the Doctor's eyes.

He would never want the Doctor to be uncomfortable, but he also refused to be unarmed. With a tiny smirk, he headed back to the lab.

He walked past the mirror and then paused abruptly. He stared at himself in the glass and had the very strong urge to beat his head repeatedly into the wall. He shook off the spike of irritation and forced his mind back to work. He had an agent to baby-sit.

However, the image he'd seen in the silvered glass did not make him feel better about the situation, even as it explained everything.

* * *

A tall young man with dark skin, hair, and eyes, stepped out of a door at the top of the stairs and looked at her.

"Oh! Tomoko! You're a Time Lord! That's wizard!" he told her, a smile growing on his face.

She smiled back and his expression began to fade, as he realized that something was terribly wrong. She walked straight up to him and tapped him lightly on the forehead.

He instantly crumpled to the ground, unconscious, and she stepped over his prone form daintily and turned to survey the room.

A group of children of various ages had looked up as she came in and were now staring at her in horror and dismay. A tall human boy stood up and spread his arms out to shield the smaller children.

"Tomoko! What did you do to Davian?" he demanded and she laughed.

"Tomoko doesn't live here anymore," she told him with a grin. It wouldn't matter what they knew after all, her work in the basement would see to them nicely.

"Who are you?" A delicate, elfin blonde girl stepped forward and glared at him.

"Now, now, child, what sort of manners have you been taught? That is no way to address your elders," he chided, but ran her scanner as she did so. Terrifying children wasn't what she was here for and was a waste of her talents, after all.

"What do you want?" the human boy demanded and now her scanner beeped. She read the results and smiled broadly.

"Oh my, they have been generous to me, not just one, but two prizes for me to scoop up." She looked at the little blonde girl and smirked. "He's grown so sentimental these days, you'll be perfect insurance. A gesture and the girl went blank and still, her face frozen, but her eyes filled with a sudden terror. "Now you, my dear boy," she continued and pointed at the one she'd really come for.

The two children jerked forwards, like badly controlled puppets and the others tried to grab them.

"Freeya!" the human wailed and a ginger boy grabbed at her as well, trying to hold her back. A third boy lunged to grab the other one and she sighed.

"Hush, children!" she instructed and they all went still, though the ginger's eyes blazed at her. "Now, come along you two, there's so much to do."

She led the two children downstairs, holding their hands like a nanny taking her charges for an outing.

"We'll have such fun, my dears," she told them and then seemed to think about that. "Well, I will anyway."

She took them down into the basement and ushered them into her TARDIS.

She looked back and smiled, using her sonic to arm the devices and then she closed the door and the TARDIS vanished.

There was a very soft 'click', as the devices she'd left behind activated.


End file.
